The April 2018 inter-Korean summit took place on 27 April 2018^[1] on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area,^[2] between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and Supreme Leader of North Korea. The summit was the third inter-Korean summit - the first in eleven years. It was also the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South's territory; President Moon also briefly crossed into the North's territory.^[3][4]

Quick Facts April 2018 Inter-Korean summit South Korea: 2018년 남북정상회담North Korea: 2018년 북남수뇌상봉, Host country ...

April 2018 Inter-Korean summit South Korea: 2018년 남북정상회담 North Korea: 2018년 북남수뇌상봉
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Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Moon Jae-in
Host country	South Korea
Motto	평화, 새로운 시작 平和, 새로운 始作 (Peace, A New Start)
Venue(s)	Inter-Korean Peace House
Participants	Kim Jong Un Moon Jae-in
Website	2018 Inter-Korean Summit

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The summit took place after the two sides had already held several meetings in preparation for their joint attendance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The idea was initially brought forward through an official invitation from the North^[4] to conduct a meeting. The summit was focused on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Panmunjom Declaration was made following the summit.

The two Koreas' high government officials held a working-level meeting on 4 April 2018 to discuss summit details at the Peace House in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The agenda was planned to include denuclearization, peace establishment and improvement of inter-Korean relations for their mutual benefit.^[5][6] More than 200 NGOs called for human rights issues in the North to be added to the agenda and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe petitioned to include the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens as well, but these topics were ultimately excluded from the summit.^[7]

The Peace House, located just south of the military demarcation line in the Joint Security Area of Panmunjeom, was accepted as the meeting's location by North Korea from among the venues proposed by South Korea.^[8][9]

The meeting was the first visit by a North Korean leader to South Korean territory after the Korean War (1950–53).^[10] The start of the meeting was broadcast live and featured the two leaders shaking hands over the demarcation line. Moon then accepted an invitation from Kim to briefly step over to the North's side of the line, a seemingly impromptu moment,^[11] before the two walked together to the Peace House.^[12] There was some controversy with the arrangement of a joint-service guard of honor formed by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces for Chairman Kim.^[13] The South Korean Ministry of National Defense justified this move by pointing out that Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun were given an equally welcoming reception during their visits to the DPRK in 2000 and 2007, respectively. The Ministry also used the Cold War as a historical reference, saying that "when violent conflicts continued between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States and China, honor guards were organized for leaders of other countries".^[14] The official website of the Blue House had a petition that was signed by over a thousand people who opposed the reception.^[15][16]

Along with the scheduled talks, the two leaders conducted a tree-planting ceremony using soil and water from both territories and attended a banquet.^[12] Many elements of the meeting were expressly designed for symbolism, including an oval meeting table measuring 2,018 millimetres to represent the year.^[10]

On 24 April 2018, the Japanese Foreign Ministry protested to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the State of Japan, citing the appearance of desserts named "Dokdo" on the dinner menu that was to be used during the summit. Dokdo is the Korean name of a small island group, known as Takeshima in Japanese, that is midway between the Republic of Korea and Japan. It is the subject of a long-standing sovereignty dispute. The mango mousse desserts were accompanied by Korean-style decorations and a depiction of the Korean peninsula that included the islands.^[18] On 27 April 2018, Tarō Kōno, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, said he felt it was unnecessary to have a "Dokdo" dessert and reiterated claims that the island group is a territory of Japan.^[19] Despite the complaint, the Dokdo desserts were served to both Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un during the summit. Both men also personally cracked open their desserts with small mallets to symbolize a new relationship.^[20][21][22]

In a joint press conference, Kim and Moon made a number of pledges regarding co-operation and peace.^[12] Notably, these included a pledge to work towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, although Kim did not explicitly agree to give up the North's nuclear weapons. The two leaders also agreed to convert the Korean Armistice Agreement into a full peace treaty later that year, formally ending the Korean War after 65 years.^[12] Additionally, they pledged to end "hostile activities" between their nations, resume reunion meetings for divided families, improve connections along their border, and cease propaganda broadcasts across the border.^[12][23][24] This agreement was known as the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula and was signed by both leaders in the South Korean border village of Panmunjom.^[25]

The press conference was shown live on South Korean television; however, live coverage was not available in North Korea^[26] since the country's policy is to not broadcast live events involving its leader.^[26]

As the press conference concluded, the two leaders pledged greater communication between themselves and planned for Moon to visit Pyongyang in late 2018.^[10]

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In the aftermath of the summit, it was agreed that the loudspeakers in the Korean Demilitarized Zone would be dismantled beginning on 1 May.^[27] This commitment was fulfilled as planned^[27] and both sides committed to ending their balloon propaganda campaigns as well.^[28] On 5 May, an attempt by North Korean defectors to continue the balloon campaign across the border from South Korea was halted by the South Korean government.^[29] Also on 5 May, North Korea changed its time zone so that it would match South Korea's.^[30]

During the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, the table tennis teams from the two Koreas entered separately, but when they were paired against each other at the quarter-final of the women's event, they negotiated instead to field a joint team for the semifinal, with the agreement of the International Table Tennis Federation.^[31] The Korea Team went on to lose to Japan 3–0 in the semi-finals.^[32]

• Inter-Korean summits
• 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit
• North Korea–South Korea relations
• Korean reunification
• Northern Limit Line
• 2017–18 North Korea crisis
• Inter-Korean House of Freedom
• List of international trips made by Kim Jong-un
• Kim–Xi meetings