The two Korean brother states approach each other in a demonstrative and cordial manner. More important than the agreed measures, however, is that years of silence have come to an end, says DW's Alexander Freund.
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Image: Reuters/Korea Summit Press Pool
They come from completely different worlds: from the south the somewhat inconspicuous human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in, from the north the ruler Kim, the eerie enfant terrible of international politics. Moon the pragmatic bridge builder, Kim Jong Un the provocative rocket man.
A South Korean president who had to flee the North and fight for democracy all his life, meets a tyrant from the third generation who is worshipped like a god and who primarily has his dynasty's survival in mind.
Despite all the differences, the ice between the two Koreans was quickly broken. The two greeted each other warmly in no man's land. And, for the first time, a North Korean ruler entered South Korean soil. Hand in hand, they then spontaneously crossed the line of demarcation once again, which will no longer be the symbol of separation but of peace, Moon said.
And the unapproachable ruler from Pyongyang also deliberately relaxed, grinned broadly into the cameras from all over the world, patted the flower children and joked with his sister, who always shines at his side, about the prepared menu with delicacies from both Koreas.
Alexander Freund heads DW's Asia programs
End to the silence
This meeting marks a historic moment. Even the roughly 3,000 journalists from all over the world broke out in spontaneous applause when the two statesmen met in a surprisingly friendly manner.
The expectations of the summit, which is supposed to end the silence of recent years, are great – perhaps too great.
South Korea hopes for a peace treaty to replace the ceasefire agreement that is still in force, to achieve North Korea's denuclearization – like the US –and to build lasting good relations between the two brother states. North Korea wants recognition as a nuclear power and it also wants economic aid amid tightened sanctions, which are hitting the bitterly poor country hard.
Both sides agreed to refrain from mutual provocation and to meet regularly on both sides in the future. Military tensions are to be reduced and direct telephone connections between the two heads of government are to be set up.
A peace treaty is to replace the still valid armistice agreement, the families separated by the division are to be allowed to meet again, economically both want to cooperate more closely, a liaison office is to be opened again in the Kaesong special economic zone.
North Korea: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's nuclear saga
North Korea's "rocket man" and America's "dotard" first threatened to fire nuclear weapons at each other. Then they wanted to talk peace, before Trump canceled. DW charts the major events in the Trump-Kim saga.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon
January 2, 2017: Missile test imminent
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year’s address that his country was in the "final stages" of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). US President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration was set for January 20, said on Twitter: "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US. It won't happen!"
Image: Getty Images/AFP/KNCA
July 4, 2017: North Korea's 'gift packages'
North Korea tested its first ICBM — the Hwasong-14 — on US Independence Day. Kim reportedly told his scientists that "the US would be displeased" by the launch. This, he said, was because "it was given a 'package of gifts' ... on its 'Independence Day.'" Trump wrote on Twitter in response: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"
Image: Reuters/KCNA
July 28, 2017: US mainland threatened
Pyongyang tested its second Hwasong-14 weeks later. Experts estimated the new rocket could reach the US mainland. Trump lashed out at North Korean ally China, writing in a Tweet: "I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency
August 8, 2017: 'Fire and fury'
Trump appeared to threaten swift military action against Pyongyang when he told reporters: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." North Korea responded by threatening to fire a medium-range ballistic missile into the waters around Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean. It did not follow through.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. Anderson
August 29, 2017: Japan rocket test
Pyongyang sparked international outcry when it test-launched a mid-range ballistic missile — the Hwasong-12 — over Japan. The UN Security Council unanimously condemned the test. Trump said in a White House statement: "Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/kyodo
September 3, 2017: Hydrogen bomb test
North Korea announced it had successfully tested its sixth nuclear weapon. Pyongyang said it was a powerful type of nuclear weapon called a hydrogen bomb and that it could be placed on top of a ballistic missile. Trump wrote on Twitter: "The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea."
Image: Reuters/KCNA
September 19, 2017: Threat to 'Rocket Man'
In his first speech at the United Nations, Trump called North Korea a "rogue state" and said Washington "will have no choice than to totally destroy North Korea" if Pyongyang failed to stop its nuclear weapons program. Referring to Kim, he added: "Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime." Kim called Trump a "mentally-deranged US dotard" two days later.
Image: Getty Images/S. Platt
November 29, 2017: Third ICBM test
North Korea test-fired its third ICBM of 2017. Pyongyang claimed it was a new missile, the Hwasong-15, which was superior to the Hwasong-14 and could hit any target on the US mainland. The US urged allies, including Germany, to break diplomatic ties with North Korea. Berlin ignored the call. Trump also called Kim a "sick puppy."
Image: Reuters/KCNA
January 3, 2018: Who's got the bigger button?
Kim said in his 2018 New Year's address that the North had completed its nuclear weapons program and that a "nuclear button" was on his desk at all times. Trump wrote two days later on Twitter: "Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"
Image: Reuters/KCNA
February 10, 2018: Tensions thawing?
South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, at the presidential house in the South Korean capital. She handed a letter to Moon inviting him to meet the North Korean leader in Pyongyang. Tensions appeared to be thawing. Seoul and Pyongyang had already agreed to send a unified hockey team to compete at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/K. Ju-sung
March 6, 2018: Momentum builds
South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong led a delegation on March 5 to Pyongyang to discuss the potential for peace talks. The next day, Chung said both sides had agreed to hold a joint summit in April and set up a telephone hotline between the two capitals. He also said Pyongyang would agree to stop its nuclear weapons and missile tests if the US agreed to hold talks with the North.
Image: Reuters/Yonhap/Reuters/Yonhap/South Korean Presidential Blue House
March 9, 2018: Trump agrees
Chung flew on to Washington, D.C. to speak with Trump. After the meeting, Chung told reporters the US president had agreed to meet Kim by May. Trump later wrote on Twitter: "no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!" Foreign leaders welcomed the historic breakthrough.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/dpa/Wong Maye-E
April 19, 2018: 'Denuclearization'
A week before the scheduled meeting at the border between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Moon said North Korea wanted "an end to the hostile relations" and had expressed a commitment to "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula. The next day, the telephone hotline was connected for the first time since February 2016, so Moon and Kim could talk directly.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Young-Joon
April 21, 2018: Kim ends missile tests
Kim announced North Korea would stop nuclear and missile tests. Kim said: "We no longer need any nuclear test or test launches of intermediate and intercontinental range ballistic missiles, and because of this the northern nuclear test site has finished its mission." However, no mention was made of its stored nuclear materials and equipment.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/A. Young-joon
April 27, 2018: Historic summit
Kim and Moon Jae-in meet in the border town of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that has divided the two Koreas since the Korean War in 1953. The two leaders vowed to work towards a nuclear-free Korea and pledged an end to war. It was the first time a North Korean leader had set foot across the border since the 1950s and paves the diplomatic way for a Trump-Kim meeting in May or June.
Image: DW/Alexander Freund
April 30, 2018: Seoul turns off broadcasts
South Korea announces its propaganda loudspeakers are to be switched off for good. They had been silenced temporarily ahead of the inter-Korean summit, which prompted the North to halt its broadcasts, too. Pyongyang also said it would adjust its time zone to that of the South as a symbolic gesture. North Korea has been half an hour behind the South since 2015.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
May 24, 2018: Trump calls off Kim summit
After North Korea slammed US Vice President Mike Pence for comparing North Korea and Libya, Donald Trump abruptly canceled the summit. Trump said the move was due to "tremendous anger and open hostility" displayed by Pyongyang.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/E. Vucci
June 1, 2018: Trump backtracks
A day after scrapping the summit, Trump suggested he was still open to meeting Kim. US and North Korean officials met during the following week and on June 1, Trump met one of Kim's closest aides, Kim Yong Chol, in the White House. Shortly thereafter, Trump said the summit would indeed take place on June 12 in Singapore. "I think you're going to have a very positive result in the end," he said.
Image: picture-alliance/A. Harnik
June 12, 2018: Smiles in Singapore
Trump and Kim met in Singapore as planned. They smiled, shook hands and praised how far they had come in overcoming their previous animosity. The summit ended with both leaders signing a short joint declaration that committed Pyongyang to denuclearize and the US to providing unspecified "security guarantees" to the North. Trump also said he would invite Kim to the White House.
Image: Reuters/A. Wallace
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There was also agreement on the most important topic: Together they want to work for a Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons, which would also mean the withdrawal of the tactical US nuclear weapons from the region. The declared goal of both remains the reunification of the divided brother state. "We speak the same language, we have the same blood, we share the same history, we are the same people. We should not fight each other, but strive for reunification," Kim said.
Of course, despite all the kindness, skepticism is still in order as the first two inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 had already raised great hope. At the time, too, the two rival states agreed to confidence-building measures. The families separated by the division of the country could see their relatives again, and the joint Kaesong Special Economic Center was founded.
But the initial euphoria vanished quickly, and when the North pushed ahead with its nuclear ambitions, discussions broke off.
More successful than predecessors
It is therefore all the more astonishing that this summit did not only come about, but that it took place in such a cordial atmosphere. After just one year in office, the social liberal Moon has achieved far more with his détente policy than his two conservative predecessors.
Kim, too, has achieved far more with his risky nuclear and missile program than his father and grandfather - the recognition of North Korea as a serious threat. Finally, Kim can negotiate at eye level with its arch enemy, the US. In a month or so, the meeting between Kim in power and US President Trump is to take place. Just a few weeks ago, that was also completely unimaginable.
The inner-Korean summit has put discussions back on track, easing the tensions of the last few months. President Trump would be well advised to continue on this path; direct discussions are certainly more helpful than irate Twitter posts. Step by step, all sides can try to rebuild lost trust and strive for a peaceful solution. If they manage to achieve that, Trump,too, would be more successful than all his predecessors.
