South Korea's Moon to meet North Korea's Kim at border for summit

South Korea's Moon to meet North Korea's Kim at border for summit

By Christine Kim and Josh Smith

FILE PHOTO - South Korea's President Moon Jae-in is seen during a meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (not pictured) at the Government Office in Hanoi, Vietnam March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kham/Pool

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday as the latter crosses a military demarcation line to the South for the first summit between the two sides in more than a decade, South Korea said.

South Korean honour guards will then escort the leaders to a welcome ceremony at a plaza in Panmunjom, the border village where the summit is to be held, the South's presidential chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, told a media briefing.

Official dialogue between Kim and Moon will begin at 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) at the Peace House in Panmunjom, an hour after Kim is scheduled the cross the border at 9:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).

After the end of the first session of talks, Kim and Moon will have lunch separately before holding a tree-planting ceremony in the afternoon, Im said.

A pine tree will be planted on the demarcation line to symbolise "peace and prosperity", Im said, using soil from Mount Paektu in North Korea and Mount Halla in South Korea.

Kim and Moon will water the tree with water brought from the Taedong River in the North and the Han River in the South, Im said. Afterwards, Moon and Kim will take a walk together in Panmunjom before beginning the next round of talks.

At the end of talks, Kim and Moon will sign a pact and make an announcement, Im said. Later, they will have dinner on the South's side and watch a video clip themed 'Spring of One' before wrapping up, he added.

(Reporting by Christine Kim and Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-26