Page 10 - Trending_043018

drumbeat of early-morning missile tests last year, according to Moon’s spokesman, Yoon Young-chan. Kim also referred to
a South Korean island that North Korea attacked with artillery in 2010, killing four, saying the residents of Yeonpyeong Island who have been living in fear of North Ko- rean artillery have high hopes the summit will help heal past scars. Kim said he’d visit Seoul’s presidential Blue House if invited.
The historic greeting of the two leaders, which may be the images most remem- bered from the summit, was planned to the last detail, though the multiple border crossings may have been impromptu. As thousands of journalists, who were kept in a huge conference center well away from the summit, except for a small group of tightly controlled pool reporters at the border, waited and watched, Moon stood near the Koreas’ dividing line, moving forward the moment he glimpsed Kim, dressed in dark, Mao-style suit, appearing in front of a building on the northern side. They smiled broadly and shook hands with the border line between them. Moon then invited Kim to cross into the South, and, after Kim did so, Moon said, “You have crossed into the South, but when do I get to go across?” Kim replied, “Why don’t we go across now?” and then grasped Moon’s
hand and led him into the North and then back into the South.
Moon then led Kim along a blindingly red carpet into South Korean territory, where two fifth-grade students from the Daesongdong Elementary School, the only South Korean school within the DMZ, greeted the leaders and gave Kim flowers. An honor guard stood at attention for inspection, a military band playing tradi- tional Korean folk songs beloved by both Koreas and the South Korean equivalent of “Hail to the Chief.”
They then took a photo inside the Peace House, where the summit took place,
in front of a painting of South Korea’s Bukhan Mountain, which towers over the South Korean Blue House presidential mansion and where dozens of North Ko- rean commandos trying to assassinate the then-dictator in Seoul were killed in 1968. Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was by Kim’s side throughout the ceremony, handing him a pen to sign a guestbook, taking the schoolchildren’s flowers from his hand and scribbling notes at the start of the talks with Moon.
Expectations were generally low on the nuclear issue, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weap- ons have collapsed amid acrimonious
charges of cheating and bad faith. Skeptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions — giving it time to perfect its weapons and win aid for unfulfilled nucle- ar promises.
Advocates of engagement, however, say the only way to get a deal is to do what the Koreas tried Friday: Sit down and see what’s possible.
The White House said in a statement that it is “hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsu- la. ... (and) looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation for
the planned meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.”
___
AP writers Kim Tong-hyung, Hyung-jin Kim and Eric Talmadge contributed to this report.
___
Foster Klug, the AP’s bureau chief for South Korea, has covered the Koreas since 2005. Follow him on Twitter at www.twit- ter.com/apklug
10 | TRENDING