Two Koreas

When three months back, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un invited Moon Jae of South Korea to visit his country, the world was not sure how that meeting would be, especially when both countries have been fighting with each other for over 70 years.

Meeting at a demilitarized zone at the border of two countries on April 27 2018, Kim declared it would close down its nuclear program and work towards bringing peace in the Korean peninsula. As a step forward, initiating the peace process, Kim confirmed that he would realign the time zone of North Korea with that of South Korea. This is the third attempt of peace talks after two summit meetings that took place in 2000 and 2007, which then failed to bring amity between the two countries. Abandoning their aides, the two leaders walked side by side on a footbridge indulging in a conversation for over half an hour. A joint declaration issued by them emphasized on a complete denuclearization aimed at bringing peace in the entire Korean Peninsula.

Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, is optimistic on this historic summit and the future course of action that the heads of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will take to bring peace and amity between the nations. The Secretary-General also hoped that the relationship would advance further when a joint meeting takes place under the auspices of the United States in the days ahead. He promised to extend his assistance in the peace process.

“The meeting between the two leaders opens up the new possibilities of collaboration, cooperation, and growth for the people of both nations.” This was the terse reply given by Leif-Eric Easley, the professor of international relations at Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul when asked for his comment.