Following two meetings between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the North and South released a joint statement that the North had agreed to work towards ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons, with a long-term goal of “declaring an end to the Korean War.”
“We will work together, Mr. Kim and I, having faith in each other … and through the hotline we will speak quite often and we will not go back.” Kim said: “There is no reason why we should fight each other — we are one nation.” said Moon
The Koreas will work together to ensure they do not “repeat the unfortunate history in which past inter-Korean agreements … fizzled out after beginning.” “There may be backlash, hardship and frustration on our way, but a victory cannot be achieved without pain.”
Following the summit, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter, declaring “Korean war to end!” “The United States, and all of its great people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!” he wrote.
The relations began in 1945 with the
division of Korea at the end of World War II. Since then, the DPRK and ROK have been locked in a conflict which erupted into open warfare in 1950 with the Korean War and which has continued ever since, thwarting the goal of Korean reunification.
