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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on a convoy parade through the streets of Pyongyang after the inter-Korean summit’s welcome ceremony on Sept. 18.

At the April 27 Panmunjom Summit, the first meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the theme of the welcome ceremony was “spring on the Korean peninsula.”

As springtime quickly won over the brutally cold winter that had seen the countries on the brink of war, people from all around the world, including the 80 million residents of the Korean Peninsula, sent their congratulations and encouraging applause. Spring has since gone, as has the summer; now it is autumn.

In the intervening time, there was the May 26 inter-Korean summit at Panmunjom’s Unification Pavilion (Tongilgak), and on June 12 the first ever North Korea-US summit in Singapore saw a “joint declaration” that affirmed “the establishment of the new US–DPRK relations” (Sentosa Agreement).

President Moon, at the declaration reading with Chairman Kim following the signing of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration, resolved that “we will not return to the past.” The promise, which almost seemed like a pained howl, is not just a hollow statement.

On Sept. 17, a day before the Pyongyang inter-Korean summit, President Moon stated during a meeting with his aides, “We have entered a new era of inter-Korean relations.” Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea WPK), also said, “inter-Korean relations have finally set on the course of peace and conciliatory cooperation” and emphasized that “following without deviation the new track of peace, the track of conciliatory cooperation that inter-Korean relations have entered, is the firm stance and will of our Republic.”

It was a declaration that indicated there will be no “backtracking” in inter-Korean relations.

On Sept. 18, President Moon and Chairman Kim began another summit in Pyongyang. It is as though the “spring on the peninsula” has elapsed into the “autumn of Pyongyang.” Over the following four days, Moon and Kim will commence the autumn harvest that will bring forward “Peace, a New Future” (the official summit slogan). Autumn is the season of harvest that will help endure the bitter cold. Perhaps it may not be as bountiful as we had hoped during springtime, but it will not be meager either.

The Blue House revealed that Moon and Kim will have at least two official meetings in Pyongyang. Unlike the two Pyongyang summits in 2000 and 2007, there will be no “ideological formalities” such as involving Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, who, according to the North Korean Constitution, is technically the chief of state but holds little actual power.

Diplomatic formalities such as one-and-one or expanded meetings will also be omitted. At the senior secretariat meeting, Moon said that “having many heart-to-heart talks with Chairman Kim Jong-un is the goal of this meeting.” It is nothing less than pragmatism, and a sign that the mutual trust between the two leaders has increased significantly.

President Moon stressed “I am seeking peace, real peace that is irreversible and lasting.” He went on to say “We need to shake off the distrust between us through empathy and sincere dialogue.”

In a morning briefing held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Press Center in Seoul on the same day, Blue House Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok outlined the three key issues that would be on the summit’s agenda: developing inter-Korean relations (confirming the implementation of provisions in the Panmunjom Declaration and discussing its concrete, sustainable development plans); mediating and promoting denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US; and reducing military tensions between the two Koreas and putting an end to the threat of war.

“Improving and developing inter-Korean relations is of utmost importance [in this meeting],” Im said. “Denuclearization is currently a top priority.” This will be the first time a specific plan for denuclearization has been fully discussed at an inter-Korean summit.

On the denuclearization discussion, Moon added, “I hope to have a frank dialogue with Chairman Kim Jong-un on what common ground we might be able to find between the US’s demands for denuclearization measures and the North’s demands for an end to hostile relations and corresponding measures to guarantee regime security,”

Among the three key items on the agenda, denuclearization is the issue that depends wholly on talks between the two leaders and cannot be resolved through closed-door negotiations prior to the summit. In a situation when both the US and North Korea are looking to the South Korean president to play an important role after a three-month stalemate on the denuclearization and quid pro quo issues, Moon will now engage directly with Kim to seek common ground between the two countries.

However, the result is difficult to predict. This is why Im adopted a cautious attitude to the summit, stating “Whether we will see progress towards denuclearization through a written or oral agreement depends on the frankness of the discussion between the two leaders, and that is currently an unknown for us.”

The outcome of the Pyongyang summit will have a large influence on the South Korea-US summit, as well as a potential second North Korea-US summit at the UN General Assembly, which begins on Sept. 18 in New York, and is likely to have a decisive impact on the future of the Korean Peninsula.

The second inter-Korean summit meeting in Panmunjom on May 26 was able to salvage the first North Korea-US summit after a letter written by Trump on May 24 had threatened to cancel the meeting. It remains to be seen whether the two Korean leaders will be able to use this summit meeting as a firm stepping stone towards peace on the Korean Peninsula.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]