3rd Moon-Kim Summit to be held Sept. 18-20: envoy
"First, the South and the North agreed to hold a South-North Korean summit in Pyongyang between Sept. 18-20, and to hold high-level negotiations early next week to prepare for the summit," Chung Eui-yong said of his one-day trip to the North Korean capital.
Chung, head of the presidential National Security Office, led a five-member delegation to Pyongyang that also included the director of the National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon.
It will be the third Moon-Kim summit. They first met in the border village of Panmunjom on April 27, then again on May 26.
Chung said the upcoming summit will review the implementation of the inter-Korean summit agreement reached at the leaders' first meeting in Panmunjom.
"The countries agreed to review the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and discuss the future direction of its implementation, and to discuss practical ways to establish lasting peace and ensure joint prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, especially denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," he told a nationally televised press conference.
The North Korean leader reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization, also promising to continue working with the United States to that end.
"Chairman Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his firm commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and expressed his willingness to closely cooperate with not only South Korea but also the United States to that end," the top security adviser to the South Korean president said.
Wednesday's trip by the South Korean delegation was largely aimed at setting the date for the third Moon-Kim summit, but it was also expected to focus on removing a stumbling block in denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea.
The talks have apparently stalled after U.S. President Donald Trump called off a scheduled North Korea trip by his top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing what he called a lack of progress in the North's denuclearization process.
North Korea earlier confirmed its leader Kim Jong-un has renewed his commitment to complete denuclearization while meeting with the South Korean officials.
"Noting that it is our fixed stand and his will to completely remove the danger of armed conflict and horror of war from the Korean peninsula and turn it into the cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from nuclear threat, he said that the north and the south should further their efforts to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported.
At the upcoming summit, the leaders of the two Koreas will also discuss ways to further reduce military tension between their countries.
"(The countries) agreed to discuss specific ways to built their mutual trust and prevent armed conflicts while continuing their ongoing talks on reducing military tension at the South-North Korean summit," Chung said.
To this end, the countries agreed to open their joint liaison office in the North's border village of Kaesong before the third Moon-Kim summit, he added.
