Our top story this afternoon...
The South Korean government is putting the final touches on preparations for the upcoming inter-Korean summit -- now exactly a week away.
We now turn to our Cha Sang-mi at the Blue House for the latest updates.
Sang-mi, tell us about how the preparations are going for the inter-Korean summit.
Hi Mark, on the presidential table today,... a hotline will be hooked up that'll link President Moon Jae-in directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"The end of the hotline will be at the South Korean presidential office... and on the North Korean side it'll be at the State Affairs Commission, an executive body headed by Kim Jong-un."
The Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom during a press briefing on Friday said working-level officials from the two sides will conduct a trial call before connecting the line today, but the exact time has not yet been set.
Kim also said that President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold phone talks prior to the summit next Friday.
The Blue House also announced six key aides who will accompany President Moon at the inter-Korean summit next week.
They are Chief Secretary Im Jong-seok,... National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong,... National Intelligence Service Chief ( )Suh Hoon,... Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon,... Defense Minister Song Young-moo,... and Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
The spokesperson, however, pointed out that who will sit at the actual summit table will depend on the number of aides accompanying Kim Jong-un.
The Blue House added that summit situation rooms will be up and running early next week.
Sang-mi, we heard that President Moon mentioned about Pyongyang's willingness for complete denuclearization. Can you tell us more about that?
Right Mark, at a lunch with the heads of 48 local broadcasters on Thursday, President Moon said that since Pyongyang has expressed its willingness for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he views denuclearization through the inter-Korean or the U.S.-North Korea summits as not too difficult in principle within a larger framework.
But Moon also said that right now there isn't much the two Koreas can negotiate on, with the current international and U.S. sanctions in place,... and he said inter-Korean ties can only develop further when U.S.-North Korea relations and Japan-North Korea ties are mended and the international sanctions are removed after Pyongyang gives up its nuclear ambitions.
Moon added that Pyongyang isn't requiring a withdrawal of the U.S. military forces from South Korea in exchange for denuclearization, rather what Pyongyang wants is a guarantee of security, and for the international community to stop hostile policies towards North Korea.
Back to you Mark.
