The leaders of North and South Korea will meet in Pyongyang in September, officials said on Monday. This will mark the third meeting of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, since April. The meeting comes amid uncertainties surrounding a nuclear standoff between Washington and Pyongyang.
The announcement was made after nearly two hours of talks led by the rivals’ chiefs for inter-Korean affairs. The three-sentence joint statement, did not mention an exact date for the summit and provided no details on how to implement past agreements.
ALSO READ: Singapore firm to build first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi
Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North Korean agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs, told pool reporters at the end of the talks that officials agreed on a specific date for the summit in Pyongyang sometime within September, but he refused to share the date, saying he wanted to “keep reporters wondering” news agency Reuters reported. He earlier told the South Korean delegation in opening remarks that the Koreas were like very close friends with an unbreakable bond.
The international community is waiting to see if North Korea will begin abandoning its nuclear weapons, something that was suggested after Kim’s summit with US President Donald Trump in June in Singapore.
North Korea, which proposed Monday’s talks last week, also sent officials overseeing past inter-Korean economic collaborations.
Pyongyang has urged Washington to reciprocate its goodwill gestures, which include suspending missile and nuclear tests and returning the remains of Americans who fought in the Korean War. Washington, which cancelled an annual joint military exercise with South Korea that had taken place in August in previous years, has refused to ease sanctions until North Korea finally and fully denuclearizes.