South Korean President Moon Jae-in （R）and Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shake hands after planting a pine tree beside a path near the military demarcation line, April 27, 2018. (Photo/TV screenshot)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), held a commemorative event to plant a pine tree, hoping for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders started their afternoon schedule with the tree-planting ceremony, after having formal, closed-door talks for over an hour and a half in the morning at the Peace House, on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom, which has divided the Korean Peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The pine tree was planted beside a path near the military demarcation line (MDL), along which late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung in 1998 delivered a total of 1,001 cows to the DPRK farmers to help improve inter-Korean relations.
Moon and Kim used a mixture of soil and water from both countries. The pine tree dates back to 1953, the year the Korean War ended in an armistice. The peninsula technically remains at war.
Engraved on the stone plaque for the tree are a phrase "Peace and Prosperity Are Planted," and signatures of the two leaders.
After the tree-planting ceremony, Moon and Kim took a stroll along the Footbridge to talk privately with no one accompanying them. At the end of the bridge stands a signpost of the MDL symbolizing the division of the two sides.
During the morning session of formal talks, Moon and Kim focused mainly on the denuclearization of the peninsula, the establishment of permanent peace and the enhanced inter-Korean relations, Moon's senior press secretary said.
The two leaders could sign a joint declaration, the exact wording of which is being drafted by officials from both sides.
Kim became the first DPRK leader to step onto South Korean soil since the end of the Korean War. The Moon-Kim summit was the third-ever between the two sides after the first and second ones in 2000 and 2007.
