ASSESSMENTS

The Inter-Korean Summit, in Summary

Apr 27, 2018 | 15:27 GMT

In this photograph, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae In walk together on April 27, 2018, after meeting in Panmunjom for the first inter-Korean summit since 2007.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae In walk together on April 27, 2018, after meeting in Panmunjom for the first inter-Korean summit since 2007. The two leaders said they would seek to declare an official end to the Korean War and work to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.

(KOREA SUMMIT PRESS POOL/Getty Images)

Highlights

The highly symbolic meeting between the two Korean leaders produced a declaration with long-expected agreements on nonaggression, humanitarian exchanges, peace-building activities and further contacts.
South Korea hopes to facilitate a warming in U.S.-North Korea relations to create a path away from a military option.
North Korea's objective is to shift international perceptions ahead of the U.S. summit, with an eye toward breaking out of its economic constraints.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae In completed their inter-Korean summit with the release of the highly anticipated "Panmunjom Declaration." This document includes pledges to work toward signing a peace deal this year ending the Korean War, denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula in a phased manner and developing inter-Korean relations leading toward reunification. In practical terms, Kim and Moon agreed to a nonaggression pact, stated plans to resume family reunions on Aug. 15, set up an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, halted propaganda activities on the Demilitarized Zone and began the process to connect cross-border railways and roads. Moon said he will visit Pyongyang in the autumn. The meeting, the first inter-Korean summit in 11 years and only the third overall, began with the highly symbolic moment of Kim crossing the military demarcation line and Moon taking a symbolic impromptu step into North Korea as...

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