In North Korea, shouts for reunification and peace greet South's leader

pulse 15:58 - 18 September 2018

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SEOUL, South Korea — President Moon Jae-in of South Korea was greeted by throngs of North Koreans shouting “Reunification of the fatherland!” as he arrived in the North on Tuesday on a high-stakes mission to persuade its leader, Kim Jong Un, to commit to start dismantling his nuclear weapons program.

Moon is holding his third summit with Kim, a three-day visit during which the two will discuss improving inter-Korean ties and easing tensions along their countries’ border, the most militarized in the world. It was Moon’s first visit to Pyongyang as South Korea’s leader and it comes after the two met on the border in April and May.

The big question hovering over the talks is whether Kim will agree to take steps to convince Washington that he is willing to denuclearize.

Kim expressed optimism Tuesday about the future of the negotiations, thanking Moon for helping bring about his June summit meeting with President Donald Trump in Singapore.

“Thanks to that meeting, the situation around the Korean Peninsula has stabilized and we can now expect more progress,” Kim said at the start of a two-hour meeting with Moon at the headquarters of the ruling Workers’ Party, according to pool reports from South Korean journalists in Pyongyang, the North’s capital.

Kim greeted Moon on Tuesday morning at the Pyongyang airport, kicking off a spectacle that stressed the ethnic affinity of the two Koreas.

When Moon stepped off his plane, a smiling Kim was waiting on the tarmac with a military honor guard and a large crowd of Pyongyang citizens mobilized for his arrival. After the two leaders hugged each other and moved to their cars, the crowd fervently chanted “Hurrah!” and “Peace and prosperity!” while waving plastic flowers and “Korea-is-one” flags that showed an undivided Korean Peninsula.

As the motorcade carrying Moon and Kim to a state guesthouse wove through Pyongyang, huge crowds, mostly women clad in bright flowing dresses, lined the boulevard, waving pink flowers and chanting for reunification.

Tuesday’s crowds were clearly mobilized to demonstrate the North Koreans’ adoration for Kim and their support for his uriminzokkiri, or “among our nation,” policy of stressing inter-Korean cooperation while the North engages in a nuclear standoff with the United States.

Moon and Kim were scheduled to announce the results of their meetings Wednesday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.