Kim Jong-un, North Korea's Supreme Leader. Photo: Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit South Korea this Friday, April 27th at 9:30 am for the first time in history. Kim Jong-un will cross the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) within the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeon by foot. Kim is the first North Korean leader to visit South Korea and also the first North Korean leader to be given the highest military rank.
Im Jong-seok, the chairman of the Inter-Korean Summit preparatory meeting, made this announcement at Ilsan Kintex Main Press Center (MPC).
Kim Jong-un will cross the Military Demarcation Line between the main conference room of the Joint Security Area at the truce village of Panmunjom and the Chamber of the Committee of the Military Armistice Commission. This is where Panmungak pavilion is located on the North Korean side.
"President Moon Jae-in will meet Kim Jong-un at the Military Demarcation Line in front of the Military Armistice Committee Meeting Room", said Im Jong-seok, and both will be escorted by the Korean traditional honour guard as a welcoming ceremony. "The two leaders will arrive at the Panmunjeom Square, located between the House of Liberty and the House of Peace by 9:40 am," Im added.
During the day, the leaders of South and North Korea will hold a tree-planting ceremony, as part of efforts to symbolize their wish for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, a presidential official said Thursday. They selected a 1953-born tree to symbolize the year that the armistice was signed to end the three-year internecine war.
The site for the tree planting will be near the road that late founder of Hyundai Group Chung Ju-yung used in late the 1990s when he led truckloads of cows to the North as part of reconciliatory efforts.
They will use soil collected from Mt. Halla in the South and Mt. Baekdu in the North. Kim will pour water gleaned from the Han River of the South and Moon from the Daedong River of the North. South Korea is said to have requested the joint tree planting, which was accepted by the North. The two leaders' names will be inscribed on a stone in front of the tree that will also carry the phrase, "Plant peace and prosperity."
The leaders of the two Koreas will hold a summit at the Peace House in the Panmunjeom area from 10:30 am on the same day, and a welcoming dinner will be held at the same venue at 6:30 pm, in which leaders from the two Koreas will attend.