The morning session of the inter-Korean summit ended at 11:55 a.m. The summit meeting will continue in the afternoon.

For the lunch break, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his aides returned to the North.

After the break, President Moon Jae-in and Kim will take part in a tree planting ceremony, designed to symbolize unity, Cheong Wa Dae said.

 

 
The two leaders will plant a pine tree that germinated in 1953, the year the Korean War was halted in an armistice. The tree will be planted using soils from Hallasan on Jeju, and from Baekdusan in the North. They will water the tree with water from Han River in the South and Daedong River in the North. Moon and Kim will then take a short walk around the grounds of Panmunjeom before resuming talks.

In the morning session, Moon was flanked by his Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, and National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon at the table. On either side of Kim, his sister Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-chol were seated. Kim Yong-chol is the vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

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