Kim Jong Un, Moon Jae-in wives to attend Inter-Korean summit banquet

The leaders of North and South Korea will be joined by their wives for a banquet on Friday after their historic summit, a spokesman for the South’s President Moon Jae-in said.

The presence of the two first ladies, Ri Sol Ju and Kim Jung-sook, had previously been up in the air.

Kim became the first North Korean leader since the 1950-53 Korean War to set foot in South Korea after shaking hands with his counterpart over a concrete curb marking the border at the truce village of Panmunjom.

Scenes of Moon and Kim joking and walking together marked a striking contrast to last year’s barrage of North Korean missile tests and its largest ever nuclear test that led to sweeping international sanctions and fears of a fresh conflict on the Korean peninsula.

After a morning meeting discussing denuclearisation, the leaders planted a tree and unveiled a monument engraved with “planting peace and prosperity”. The two then took a short walk along the border before sitting and talking on a wooden boardwalk.

Their dramatic meeting comes weeks before Kim is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss denuclearising the Korean peninsula.

“We are at a starting line today, where a new history of peace, prosperity and inter-Korean relations is being written,” Kim said before the two Korean leaders and top aides began talks.

The two leaders are expected to sign a joint declaration before attending a dinner hosted by Moon, South Korean Blue House official told reporters.

During their private meeting, Kim told Moon he came to the summit to end the history of conflict and joked he was sorry for waking Moon up with his early morning missile tests, the official said.

First Published: Apr 27, 2018 14:06 IST