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Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong delivers a letter from South Korean President Moon Jae-in to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Sept. 5. (provided by the Blue House)

A third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is to be held in Pyongyang on Sept. 18–20.

The announcement was made at a Sept. 6 press conference by a special envoy delegation returning from a visit to North Korea on behalf of President Moon Jae-in, with Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong as senior representative.

“High-level practical discussions on protocol, security, communications, and press coverage to prepare for the summit are to be held in Panmunjom early next week,” the envoy explained, adding that an agreement had also been reached to open an inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong – in accordance with an agreement at the first inter-Korean summit in Panmunjom on Apr. 27 – before the third summit takes place in Pyongyang.

Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong at a press conference at the Bleu House after returning from his Pyongyang visit on Sept. 6. (Kim Jung-hyo

Speaking at a Sept. 6 press conference after traveling to and from Pyongyang by specially chartered aircraft over a direct West (Yellow) Sea route the day before, Chung said he had “met with Chairman Kim Jong-un following my arrival in Pyongyang on the morning of Sept. 5 to deliver a letter from President Moon Jae-in and hold broad-ranging and in-depth discussions on the staging of a summit and other issues concerning inter-Korean relations.”

“An agreement was reached to examine implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and avenues for future pursuit at the inter-Korean summit, as well as to discuss issues for the establishment of permanent peace and shared prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, and in particular practical steps toward the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization,” he added.

staff photographer)

Chung went on to say that Kim had “reaffirmed his firm commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and expressed his intent to cooperate closely with South Korea and the US to this end.” Chung also announced his own plans to visit the US shortly to communicate Kim’s views directly to President Donald Trump and the leadership in Washington.

Many are now watching for potential changes to the stalemate that emerged between North Korea and the US with the cancelation of planned North Korea visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Aug. 24, as well as the possibility of Pompeo attempting another visit around the time of the Pyongyang summit.

Chung described Kim as having “established his firm commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and expressed frustration with the questions some are raising [about his intentions].”

“[Kim] undertook preemptive measures for denuclearization and said he would like to have his goodwill gesture taken as a goodwill gesture,” he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un poses for a commemorative photograph with the South Korea special delegation to Pyongyang

Chung also said that a planned trilateral summit with the US at the UN General Assembly session in September “did not come to fruition.”

“The conditions are not in place for that to be pursued. [But] our President will be attending the UN General Assembly and is preparing a keynote speech,” he added.

led by Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong (third from left)

While the administration had been hoping for a trilateral (South and North Korea and the US) or quadrilateral (including China) end-of-war declaration at the General Assembly session in the event of progress in Pyongyang and Washington’s talks on denuclearization and a declaration, the plan to have the three sides’ leaders meet during the session appears to have fallen by the wayside with the recent slowdown in the North Korea-US negotiations.

In addition, the special envoy delegation made a decision to continue attempting progress with inter-Korean discussions to reduce military tensions and “use the inter-Korean summit as an occasion to agree on concrete plans for building mutual trust and preventing armed clashes,” Chung said.

on Sept. 5. (provided by the Blue House)

By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter

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