The two Koreas' high government officials held a working-level meeting on 4 April 2018 to discuss summit details at the Peace House in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The agenda was planned to include denuclearization, peace establishment and improvement of inter-Korean relations for their mutual benefit. Although more than 200 NGOs called for the inclusion of human rights issues in the North and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe for its abducted citizens in the agenda, these were not included.
Meeting
The Peace House was accepted by North Korea for the meeting's location, from among the venues proposed by South Korea, located just south of the military demarcation line in the Joint Security Area of Panmunjeom. The meeting was the first visit by a North Korean leader to the territory of the South Area after the Korean War 1950-53. This initial meeting of the two leaders, who shook hands over the demarcation line, was broadcast live. Moon accepted an invitation from Kim to briefly step over to the North's side of the line, a seemingly impromptu moment, before the two walked together to the Peace House. There was some controversy with the arrangement of a joint-service guard of honor formed by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces for Chairman Kim. The Ministry of National Defense justified this move by pointing out that Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun were an equally welcoming reception during their visits to the DPRK in 2000 and 2007 respectively. They also used the Cold War as a historical reference, saying that "when violent conflicts continued between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States and China, honor guards were organized for leaders of other countries". The official website of the Blue House had a petition that was signed by over a thousand people who opposed thus reception. As well as the talks, the two leaders conducted a tree-planting ceremony using soil and water from both sides and attended a banquet. Many elements of the meeting were expressly designed for symbolism, including an oval meeting table measuring to represent the year.
Other attendees
The two leaders were accompanied by their wives, Kim Jung-sook and Ri Sol-ju, and a number of other individuals were present at the meeting:
On 24 April 2018, the Japanese Foreign Ministry protested to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the State of Japan, citing the appearance of desserts named "Dokdo" on the dinner menu used during the summit. Dokdo is the Korean name of a small island group, known as Takeshima in Japanese, midway between the Republic of Korea and Japan. It is the subject of a long-standing sovereignty dispute. The mangomousse desserts were accompanied by Korean-style decorations and a depiction of the Korean peninsula that included the islands. On 27 April 2018, Tarō Kōno, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, said he felt it was unnecessary to have a "Dokdo" dessert and reiterated claims that the island group is a territory of Japan. Despite the complaint, the Dokdo desserts were served to both Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un during the summit. Both also personally cracked open their desserts with small mallets to symbolize a new relationship.
In a joint press conference, Kim and Moon made a number of pledges regarding co-operation and peace. Notably, these included a pledge to work towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, although Kim did not explicitly agree to give up the North's nuclear weapons. Additionally the two leaders agreed to, later in the year, convert the Korean Armistice Agreement into a full peace treaty, formally ending the Korean War after 65 years. Additionally, the leaders pledged to end "hostile activities" between their nations, for the resumption of reunion meetings for divided families, to improve connections along their border, and for the cessation of propaganda broadcasts across it. This agreement was known as the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula and was signed by both leaders in the South Korean border village of Panmunjom. The press conference was shown live on South Korean television; however, live coverage was not available in North Korea since the country's policy is not to broadcast live events involving its leader. The leaders pledged greater communication between them, and that Moon would visit Pyongyang in late 2018.
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the summit, it was agreed that the loudspeakers in the Korean Demilitarized Zone were dismantled beginning on 1 May. This commitment was fulfilled as planned and both sides also committed to ending their balloon propaganda campaigns as well. At the same time, North Korea agreed to realign its time with South Korea. On 5 May, North Korea changed its time zone so it would match that of South Korea. Also on May 5, an attempt by North Korean defectors to continue the balloon campaign across the border from South Korea was halted by the South Korean government. During the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, the table tennis teams from the two Koreas entered separately, but when they were paired against each other at the quarter-final of the women's event, they negotiated instead to field a joint team for the semifinal, with the agreement of the International Table Tennis Federation. The Korea Team went on to lose to Japan 3-0 in the semi-finals.
May 2018 summit
On 26 May, Kim and Moon met again in the Joint Security Area, this time on the North Korean side of the Panmunjom village. The meeting took two hours, and unlike other summits it had not been publicly announced beforehand. Photos released by South Korea's presidential office showed Moon arriving at the northern side of the Panmunjom truce village and shaking hands with Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, before sitting down with Kim for their summit. Moon was accompanied by his spy chief, Suh Hoon, while Kim was joined by Kim Yong-chol, a former military intelligence chief who is now a vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party's central committee tasked with inter-Korean relations. The meeting was largely centered around North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's upcoming summit with US President Donald Trump. Kim and Moon also embraced before Moon returned to South Korea. Moon revealed details of the summit in a public address on 27 May.
September 2018 summit
On 13 August, it was announced that a third 2018 inter-Korean summit would be held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in September. The meeting is designed to capitalize on what was accomplished at the previous two summits. Ri Son Gwon, the head of the North Korean delegation, told reporters that a specific date for the summit was already set, but that they wanted to "keep reporters wondering." It was announced on August 31 that South Korean President Moon Jae-In will send a special delegation to North Korea on September 5 to hold more nuclear talks and set up the summit. The delegation arrived in North Korea as scheduled. It was determined that the summit would be held for three days and would take place between September 18 and September 20. The summit was officially held during the scheduled dates.
