The preparation committee for the inter-Korean summit officially took form on Thursday, with President Moon Jae-in’s Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok taking the chair.

Under Im, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will serve as the administrator. Committee members include National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, chief of staff for policy Chang Ha-sung, Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha and Minister of Office of Government Policy Coordination Hong Nam-ki. 

The committee will be divided into three subcommittees on agenda; communication and public relations; and operations support.
 

“The committee integrates the presidential office and the government in making systematic and practical preparations for the summit,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.

According to Kim, the committee has been streamlined compared to that formed for the 2007 inter-Korean summit in order to allow the organization to react swiftly to related developments.

Kim added that the committee will meet once every one or two weeks, and that working-level meetings will be held up to four times a week.

The working-level meetings will be presided over by Im, with the chiefs of the subcommittees and the unification minister attending.

The committee is to oversee preparations for the inter-Korean summit scheduled for some time at the end of April.

The upcoming inter-Korean summit, the third of its kind, was agreed to during National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong’s visit to Pyongyang on March 5. At the time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also agreed to halt missile and nuclear tests and expressed willingness to engage the US in denuclearization talks.

US President Donald Trump accepted Kim‘s offer of talks, announcing through Chung on March 9 that he would meet Kim “by May.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)