[Courtesy of presidential Blue House]
SEOUL -- South and North Korean leaders held a surprise second meeting Saturday in the truce villagle of Panmunjom after U.S. President Donald Trump called off his scheduled summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next month.
The two-hour unheralded meeting between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in was held from 3:00 p.m (0600 GMT). In their first meeting on April 27, the two leaders signed the Panmunjom Declaration on denuclearization and rapprochement.
"The two leaders exchanged candid opinions on how to implement the Aprill 27 Panmunjom Declaration and for the successful summit between North Korea and the United States," Moon's office said, adding the result of Saturday's meeting would be disclosed on Sunday.
Saturday's meeting was attended by South Korea's National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon while the North's leader was accompanied by Kim Yong-chol, head of the United Front Department.
The second summit in Panmunjom came two days after Trump canceled his scheduled meeting with Kim on June 12 in Singapore. Trump said later that the summit in Singapore could still take place.
[Courtesy of presidential Blue House]
Pictures released by the president's office showed Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jung, greeting Moon outside a North Korean conference room in Panmunjom. The two leaders were seen hugging each other when Moon left.
In an earlier statement, Moon's spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom welcomed renewed hope for a Kim-Trump summit. "It's a fortunate thing that the possibility of the North Korea-U.S. dialogue is still alive without being terminated."
The statement came after Trump said that Washington and Pyongyang were talking and both sides want to have the meeting in Singapore. "We're talking to them now. They very much want to do it. We'd like to do it. We're going to see what happens," the U.S. leader said.
Trump said that "very productive talks" are under way between the two sides to reinstate the summit.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
