Historic talks promises to end decades of hostility in Korea

Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in in Panmunjom; Kim has offered to visit Seoul 'any time' if invited. Pics/AFP

The leaders of North and South Korea agreed yesterday to pursue a permanent peace and the complete denuclearisation of the divided peninsula, as they embraced after a historic summit laden with symbolism. In a day of bonhomie including a highly symbolic handshake over the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two countries, the pair issued a declaration on "the common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean peninsula". Upon signing the document, the two leaders shared a warm embrace, the culmination of a summit filled with smiles and displays of friendship in front of the world's media.

They also agreed that they would this year seek a permanent end to the Korean War, 65 years after the hostilities ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Moon Jae-in would visit Pyongyang in "the fall", the two leaders said, also agreeing to hold "regular meetings and direct telephone conversations". The so-called Panmunjom Declaration capped an extraordinary day unthinkable only months ago, as the nuclear-armed North carried out a series of missile launches and its sixth atomic blast. Kim Jong Un said he was "filled with emotion" after stepping over the concrete blocks into the South, making him the first North Korean leader to set foot there since the shooting stopped in the Korean War.

Kim Jong Un being escorted by a phalanx of bodyguards carefully chosen for their fitness, marksmanship, martial arts skills and even looks

At Kim's impromptu invitation the two men briefly crossed hand-in-hand into the North before walking to the Peace House building at the truce village of Panmunjom for the summit - only the third of its kind since hostilities ceased in 1953. "I came here determined to send a starting signal at the threshold of a new history," said Kim. After the summit, he pledged that the two Koreas will ensure they did not "repeat the unfortunate history in which past inter-Korea agreements... fizzled out after beginning". The two previous Korean summits in 2000 and 2007, both of them in Pyongyang, also ended with displays of affection and similar pledges, but the agreements ultimately came to naught. With the North's atomic arsenal high on the agenda, Moon Jae-in responded that the North's announced moratorium on nuclear testing and long-range missile launches was "very significant." It was the highest-level encounter yet in a whirlwind of nuclear diplomacy, and intended to pave the way for a much-anticipated encounter between Kim and US President Donald Trump.

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