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Home  » News » North, South Korea leaders hold surprise meeting

North, South Korea leaders hold surprise meeting

Source: ANI
May 26, 2018 21:41 IST
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IMAGE: South Korean President Moon Jae-in bids farewell to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he leaves after their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom, North Korea, on Saturday. Photograph: The Presidential Blue House/Handout via Reuters

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday to discuss the possible forthcoming United States-North Korea summit, announced South Korea.

The two leaders held a surprise meeting at the Demilitarized Zone, CNN reported, citing, the South Korean presidency, as saying in a statement.

 

According to the statement, the two sides 'exchanged their opinions' on among other things successfully conducting a US-North Korea summit, according to the statement.

As per the officials, the South Korean leader will announce the result of his two-hour long meet with Kim on Sunday morning.

Kim was with his sister Kim Yo Jong and his top aide Kim Yong Chol in charge of inter-Korean affairs. Moon was accompanied by South Korea's national intelligence service chief, Suh Hoon, according to the reports.

The recent development comes barely hours after Trump, in a Twitter post, wrote that the summit could still happen on June 12 as previously scheduled.

'We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th., and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date,' Trump tweeted.

Saturday's meeting was the second inter-Korean meeting, as last month, Kim became the first-ever North Korean leader to step on the South Korean soil, when he took a step at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the world's most heavily guarded border, separating the two countries.

He then shook hands with Moon, which was the first-ever meeting between them after the Korean War ended in 1953.

The inter-Korean summit was also unique as it was the first time in over a decade that it was being held.

The previous two summits were held in 2000 and 2007 in Pyongyang. It was also the first time that the summit was being held in South Korea.

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Source: ANI