N Korea says 'historic meeting' opens 'new era for peace'

AFP  |  Seoul 

The between North Korean leader and the South's was a "historic meeting" that paved the way for the start of a new era, Pyongyang's said today.

The official agency said it was a "historic meeting that has opened a new era for national reconciliation and unity, peace and prosperity", and carried the text of the leaders' Panmunjom Declaration in full.

In the document the two leaders "confirmed the common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula". That phrase was included in the text as well.

For years, insisted it would never give up the "treasured sword" of its nuclear arsenal, which it says it needs to defend itself against a possible US invasion.

But it has offered to put it up for negotiation in exchange for security guarantees, according to -- although Kim made no public reference to doing so at yesterday's spectacular summit.

When Kim stepped over the military demarcation line that divides the peninsula he became the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War hostilities ceased in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

He then persuaded Moon to step into the North, and the two leaders shared a day of smiles, intimate moments, and a half-hour-long one-on-one conversation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, April 28 2018. 07:40 IST