Speculation swirls on exact date of third Moon-Kim summit

2018-08-14 0

So the leaders of the two Koreas are going to meet on North Korea's turf this time around next month.... following their previous two summits at the border village of Panmunjom.
And there's been a firestorm of speculation about the exact date the two leaders might meet.
Park Hee-jun has more.

At Monday's high-level inter-Korean talks at the border,... it was decided South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet in Pyongyang sometime in September for their third summit.

"We agreed the summit needs to take place as soon as possible, but considering North Korea's schedule, we've initially decided to hold it in September and set the date through discussions. Realistically, it can't happen in August."

North Korean state media also reported on the results of the high-level meeting,... letting the North Korean people know that the third inter-Korean summit of 2018 is set for next month.
The specific date, however,... remains unclear at the present time.

Seoul's presidential office told reporters after the talks,... that the inter-Korean summit will most likely happen in mid or late-September.
Blue House Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said that realistically,... it's difficult to hold the summit earlier,... which could be due to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the North Korean regime on September 9th.
He added the specific summit date will have to be set through further working-level talks.

But Moon Chung-in , special advisor to President Moon,... thinks the date has already been set.
He told South Korean cable channel JTBC that he expects the summit to happen on September 12th or 13th,... which would be the first working day after North Korea's September 9th holiday.

There's also expectation the summit will happen before the UN General Assembly kicks off in New York City.
World leaders are scheduled to give their speeches in the final week,... with U.S. President Donald Trump speaking on September 25th and President Moon addressing the assembly on the 27th.
Therefore, experts believe it's unlikely the summit will take place in late-September.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.

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