ZCZC
BFF-31
SKOREA-DPRK- SUMMIT
Leaders of two Koreas agree to denuclearize peninsula at Pyongyang summit
PYONGYANG/SEOUL, Sept. 19, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Leaders of the two Koreas
agreed Wednesday to end military tensions and try to achieve complete
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK), and South Korean President Moon Jae-in made the pledge at a joint
press conference in Pyongyang.
At the press conference, Kim said that Panmunjom Declaration would serve as
groundwork for a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula and he wished to
make the peninsula nuclear-free.
The Panmunjom Declaration was signed during Kim’s first meeting with Moon
in April at the truce village of Panmunjom on the border of the two Koreas.
Kim promised to accelerate the inter-Korean peace talks, further develop
inter-Korean relations and visit Seoul, capital of South Korea, in the near
future.
Moon said he and Kim have agreed on ways to denuclearize the Korean
Peninsula for the first time. In addition, they agreed to end military
tensions and transform the inter-Korean border into a “peace zone.”
Moon noted that they reached consensus to eliminate all threats of war on
the entire Korean Peninsula.
Before meeting the press, the two leaders signed a summit agreement.
Defense chiefs from both sides also signed a separate agreement on military
affairs in the presence of the two leaders.
Moon and Kim had a two-hour-long talks Tuesday afternoon at the
headquarters of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and an one-on-one meeting
earlier on Wednesday.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the two sides had an “in-depth exchange of
opinions on various issues arising in further accelerating the development of
the north-south relations by honestly implementing the Panmunjom declaration
in an all-round manner,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said
Wednesday.
Under the joint declaration signed by Moon and Kim in Pyongyang, the DPRK
expressed its willingness to continue additional steps, such as the permanent
destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear facility, if the United States takes
corresponding measures in accordance with the spirit of the DPRK-U.S. summit
agreement reached on June 12 in Singapore.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1120 hrs