North Korea rolls out red carpet treatment for President Moon

  • 6 years ago
2018 평양남북정상회담, 이전 평양회담에서 보여졌던 대통령 의전 차이
This was the third time the leaders of South and North Korea have met this year, all in the space of five months.
And they certainly appeared to have developed a friendship.
And in that spirit Kim Jong-un and his regime gave him a very stately welcome, as our Lee Min-sun reports. The third inter-Korean summit of the year... and fifth in history was held in Pyeongyang this week, and was filled with many firsts and unexpected events.

Notable differences were first seen at Pyeongyang International Airport upon President Moon's arrival on Tuesday.

The way he was greeted by North Korea differed a lot from the welcoming ceremonies laid on for former South Korean Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun in 2000 and 2007 respectively.

After Moon was greeted personally by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju, North Korean soldiers and naval officials fired a 21-gun salute to honor the South Korean head of state.

At the previous two summits, a salute was omitted due to the nature of inter-Korean relations at the time.

Thousands of North Koreans greeted President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un as they shared an open-top car ride through downtown Pyeongyang.

In 2007, then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun made the same journey in an open-top car with Kim Yong-nam, the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, but not with then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

But it's notable that this time,... President Moon rode with Chairman Kim, the man in ultimate charge of the regime.

There were other differences throughout the second and third day.

President Moon made a rare visit to a local seafood restaurant and interacted with the North Korean public. He also gave a speech at the Mass Games on Wednesday night, being the first South Korean leader to do so.

Chairman Kim accompanied President Moon for the most of the itinerary, and the two leaders had many chances for private conversations. They extended their time together by hiking up Baekdusan Mountain on Thursday morning before President Moon's return to South Korea.

Lee Min-sun, Arirang News.

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