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North, South Korean Leaders To Hold Summit At Border

April 26, 2018

Kim Jong Un is to become the first North Korean leader to set foot on South Korean territory since the end of the Korean War in 1953 when he crosses the military demarcation line dividing the two Koreas on April 27.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will personally meet Kim at the border, Moon's chief of staff, Im Jong Seok, said on April 26 in Seoul.

The first talks between the two leaders will be held at the Peace House, just south of the border at the joint village of Panmunjom.

South Korea said the summit would discuss "the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the advancement of inter-Korean relations."

Ahead of the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the international community must maintain sanctions on North Korea until "concrete changes" in its actions are visible, and there should be no reduction yet in pressure on Pyongyang.

"Until we see a concrete change in North Korea's actions, we must continue to put pressure on North Korea and continue with the sanctions," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on April 26.

The summit -- the third between the country's leaders after meetings in 2000 and 2007 -- will precede a planned meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, expected to take place next month or early June.

Tensions in the region escalated last year after North Korea launched several ballistic missiles and performed a nuclear test, while Kim and Trump traded threats and insults.

But at the beginning of this year Kim began an unexpected program of diplomatic outreach, which included the North's attendance in the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Based on reporting by dpa and BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/north-south-korean-leader -to-hold-summit-at-border/29193267.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.