South Korea’s president Moon and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un drove together through the streets of Pyongyang on Tuesday past thousands of cheering citizens before opening a summit where Moon Jae-in will seek to reboot stalled denuclearisation talks between his hosts and the United States.
Kim and Moon embraced at Pyongyang’s international airport — where the North Korean leader had supervised missile launches last year as tensions mounted.
The North’s unique brand of choreographed mass adulation was on full display as hundreds of people waved North Korean flags and another depicting an undivided peninsula — while the South’s own emblem was only visible on Moon’s Boeing 747 aircraft.
Thousands of people, holding bouquets and chanting in unison “Reunification of the country!” lined the streets as Kim and Moon rode through the city in an open-topped vehicle.
“I am acutely aware of the weight that we bear,” Moon told Kim as they opened two hours of formal talks at the headquarters of the ruling Workers’ Party, adding that he felt a “heavy responsibility.”
The talks covered “various issues arising in further accelerating the development of the north-south relations”, the North’s KCNA news agency said.
Kim and Moon “had a frank and candid conversation over important matters of mutual concern,” it added, without providing details.
