N. Korea calls Moon-Kim summit ‘good opportunity’ to improve ties

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) — North Korea’s state media reported Tuesday on this week’s inter-Korean summit, calling it a “good opportunity” to improve ties between the two Koreas.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is to embark early in the day on a three-day trip to Pyongyang for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It follows his first summit in April and another in May, all of them held at the truce village of Panmunjom.

“The Pyongyang summit aimed at implementing the Panmunjom declaration for peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula will offer an important opportunity in further accelerating the development of inter-Korean relations that is making a new history,” the Korean Central News Agency said.

Moon will stay in the North through Thursday during which he is to hold talks with Kim, which are expected to be dominated by discussion on denuclearization and inter-Korean relations.

After the April summit, in particular, the two leaders agreed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, halt hostile acts against each other and foster cross-border exchange.

Their third summit comes amid stalemated negotiations between the North and the United States on ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons since their historic summit in Singapore in June.

The North wants phased and simultaneous reciprocal measures from the U.S. for measures it take to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. claims that substantive denuclearization steps should come first before any concessions.