| April
1. | - A South Korean taekwondo
demonstration team performs at the Taekwondo Hall in
Pyeongyang.
|
| April 1. |
- A South Korean art troupe performs
at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
- North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un watched the performance with his wife, Ri
Sol Ju, and took a commemorative photo with the South Korean
art troupe after the performance. |
| April 1. | - The ROK and
the US begin the Foal Eagle exercise including the Ssangyong
(Double Dragon) exercise.
|
| April 2. | - South and North
Korean taekwondo demonstration teams perform together at the
Pyongyang Grand Theater.
|
| April 3. | - South and North
Korean art troupes perform together at the Ryugyong Chung
Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyeongyang.
|
| April 5. | - The
Inter-Korean Summit Preparation Committee holds the fourth
meeting at the Blue House.
|
| April 5. | - The first
working-level meeting concerning protocol, security, and the
press for the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit is held at the Peace
House on the southern side of Panmunjeom.
|
| April 7. | - The
first working-level meeting concerning communications for
the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit is held at the Thongil House on
the northern side of Panmunjeom.
|
| April 8. | - The ROK and the
US finish the Ssangyong exercise.
|
| April 9. | - North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un chairs a meeting of the Political Bureau
of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
- Kim announced that
the inter-Korean summit will be held at the Peace House on
the southern side of Panmunjeom on April 27 and mentioned
the North Korea-US talks. |
| April 11. | - The
Inter-Korean Summit Preparation Committee holds the fifth
meeting at the Blue House.
- President Moon emphasized
that we must serve as a guide to ensure that the
inter-Korean summit leads to the success of the North
Korea-US summit. |
| April
12. | - President Moon has a
luncheon meeting with a senior advisory group for the
inter-Korean summit.
|
| April
14. | - The second working-level
meeting concerning communications for the 2018 Inter-Korean
Summit is held at the Thongil House on the northern side of
Panmunjeom.
|
| April 15. |
- The Blue House declares “Peace, A
New Start” as the official slogan for the inter-Korean
summit.
|
| April 17. |
- President Moon has a meeting with an
experts advisory group for the inter-Korean summit.
|
| April 17. | - An online platform opens to share
information on the preparations for the 2018 Inter-Korean
Summit with the general public.
|
| April 17. | - US President
Donald Trump, in a summit with Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, comments that South and North Korea ‘have my
blessing’ to discuss an end to war.
|
| April 18. | - The second
working-level meeting concerning protocol, security, and the
press for the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit is held at the
Thongil House on the northern side of Panmunjeom.
-
The two Koreas agreed to broadcast major events of the
upcoming 2018 Inter-Korean Summit live, starting with the
initial handshake between President Moon Jae-in and North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un. |
| April 18. | - President Moon
has a meeting with presidents of media companies to hear
their opinions on the inter-Korean summit.
|
| April 18. | - US
President Trump, in a joint press conference with Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, says, “There is a bright path
available to North Korea when it achieves denuclearization
in a complete and verifiable, and irreversible way. We will
be doing everything possible to make it a worldwide success.
If the meeting, when I’m there, is not fruitful, I will
respectfully leave the meeting.”
|
| April 19. | - The
Inter-Korean Summit Preparation Committee holds the fifth
meeting at the Blue House.
- The committee announced a
plan to connect the hotline between the Blue House of the
South and the State Affairs Commission of the North and to
make a test call on April 20. |
| April 20. | - The hotline
opens between the leaders of South and North Korea, and a
test call is made.
|
| April
20. | - The third plenary meeting
of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea
takes place.
- Major decisions: 1) Proclaiming the
great victory of the Byungjin line of simultaneous
development of the economy and nuclear weapons and declaring
that the development of technology for mounting nuclear
warheads on ballistic rockets has been realized; 2)
Discontinuing nuclear testing and inter-continental
ballistic rocket test-firing from April 21, 2018 and
scrapping the northern nuclear test ground; 3) Never using
nuclear weapons nor transferring nuclear weapons or nuclear
technology under any circumstances; 4) Announcing a new
strategic line of “concentrating all efforts on building a
powerful socialist economy”; and 5) Facilitating close
contact and active dialogue with neighboring countries and
the international community in order to defend peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the world.
|
| April 22. | - The North suggests to the South the
holding of the third working-level meeting concerning
protocol, security, and the press for the 2018 Inter-Korean
Summit at the Thongil House on the northern side of
Panmunjeom on April 23.
|
| April 22. | - President Moon
chairs a meeting for a final review of the agenda for the
inter-Korean summit.
|
| April
23. | - The ROK military announces
that it would cease loudspeaker broadcasting along the
military demarcation line at midnight April 23 in order to
ease military tensions and create a peaceful atmosphere for
the inter-Korean summit.
- The ROK Ministry of
National Defense announced that North Korea had ceased most
loudspeaker broadcasting to the South along the border line
after the South’s suspension of loudspeaker broadcasting to
the North. |
| April 23. |
- The third working-level meeting
concerning protocol, security, and the press for the 2018
Inter-Korean Summit is held at the Thongil House on the
northern side of Panmunjeom.
- Main agreements:
Holding major events including an official welcoming
ceremony, a summit meeting, and a welcome banquet; the North
dispatching an advance team headed by Kim Chang Son on April
25 and the two Koreas holding a joint rehearsal; and the
North permitting the South’s journalists to cover the summit
from Panmungak on the northern side including a live
broadcast. |
| April 23. |
- President Moon, in a meeting with
senior presidential aides, mentions that the North’s bright
future will be guaranteed if the North, beginning with a
nuclear freeze, moves toward complete nuclear
disarmament.
- He assessed North Korea’s measure on a
nuclear freeze as a significant decision for complete
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a green light
that increases the possibilities for success of the
inter-Korean and North Korea-US summit meetings.
|
| April 23. |
- The ROK and the US begin the Key Resolve exercise.
|
| April 24. | - The ROK government opens situation rooms
for the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit in Panmunjeom and at
KINTEX.
|
| April 24. |
- President Moon talks on the phone
with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- Prime
Minister Abe asked President Moon about the prospects for a
formal declaration of the end of war. In reply, President
Moon noted that the declaration of the end of war could not
be accomplished through an inter-Korean dialogue alone,
saying that it requires at least a trilateral agreement
among the South, the North, and the United States.
-
The Prime Minister also asked President Moon to bring up the
issue of Japanese abductees at the inter-Korean summit. In
response, President Moon said that he would communicate
Prime Minister Abe’s position during the summit with North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The President went on to say that
he intended to tell North Korean leader Kim that resolving
the issue of Japanese abductees would be of help in
establishing peace in Northeast Asia. |
| April 26. | - The ROK and
the US conclude the Foal Eagle exercise.
|
| April 27. | - The
2018 Inter-Korean Summit is held at the Peace House on the
southern side of Panmunjeom and the Panmunjeom Declaration
for Peace, Prosperity, and Unification of the Korean
Peninsula is adopted.
- The leaders held the meeting
twice in the morning and in the afternoon, planted a tree,
walked on a footbridge, and had a banquet along with their
wives.
- Entourage: (South) Presidential Chief of
Staff Im Jong-seok, National Security Office Director Chung
Eui-yong, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon,
Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, Defense Minister Song
Young-moo, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo (North) Kim
Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s
Assembly; Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Central
Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK); Choe Hwi,
vice chairman of the WPK Central Committee; Ri Su Yong, vice
chairman of the WPK Central Committee; Kim Yo Jong, first
vice director of the WPK Central Committee; Ri Myong Su,
chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army; Pak
Yong Sik, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces; Foreign
Minister Ri Yong Ho; and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC).
[Main agreements in Panmunjeom Declaration]
The
two leaders declared the opening of a new era of peace on
the Korean Peninsula and inter-Korean relations of
reconciliation, peace, and prosperity.
1. The South
and the North facilitate comprehensive and groundbreaking
advancement in inter-Korean relations.
① Affirming the
principle of determining the destiny of the Korean nation on
their own accord and fully implementing all existing
agreements and declarations adopted between the two sides
thus far.
② Holding dialogue in various fields
including a high-level meeting as soon as possible and
taking measures for the implementation of the agreements
reached at the Summit.
③ Establishing a joint liaison
office with resident representatives of both sides in
Gaeseong.
④ Facilitating more active cooperation,
exchange, visits, and contacts at all levels and in many
fields.
⑤ Holding reunions of separated family members
on the occasion of National Liberation Day of August 15 and
convening an inter-Korean Red Cross meeting.
⑥
Actively implementing the projects agreed in the 2007
October 4 Declaration and connecting and modernizing the
railways and roads as the first step.
2. The South and
the North work together to alleviate military tensions and
eliminate the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula.
①
Completely ceasing all hostile acts against each other and
transforming the demilitarized zone into a peace zone.
② Turning the areas around the Northern Limit Line in the
West Sea into a maritime peace zone in order to prevent
accidental military clashes and guarantee safe
fishing.
③ Holding frequent meetings between military
authorities, including the Defense Ministers’ meeting, and
convening general-level military talks in May.
3. The
South and the North actively work together to establish a
permanent and solid peace system on the Korean
Peninsula.
① Reaffirming the Non-Aggression Agreement
that precludes the use of force in any form against each
other and strictly adhering to the Agreement.
②
Carrying out disarmament in a phased manner depending on the
substantial progress made in military
confidence-building.
③ Pursuing trilateral meetings
involving the two Koreas and the United States, or
quadrilateral meetings involving the two Koreas, the United
States, and China with a view to declaring a formal end to
the war and establishing a permanent and solid peace
system.
④ Confirming the common goal of realizing a
nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through complete
denuclearization, having regular meetings and direct
telephone conversations, and holding talks in Pyeongyang in
the coming fall.
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
said that the North will close its nuclear test site this
May and make it publicly verifiable, and that it will adopt
Korea Standard Time. |
| April
28. | - President Moon talks on
the phone with US President Trump.
- Trump
congratulated Moon on his success in the inter-Korean summit
and said that he is looking forward to a meeting with North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that the North Korea-US summit
will be a great success. |
| April 29. | - President Moon
talks on the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
and Russian President Putin.
- Abe mentioned that
Japan will create an opportunity to talk with the North and
ask Moon for help if necessary.
- Putin said that the
success of the inter-Korean summit needs to lead to
trilateral cooperation between the two Koreas and
Russia. |
| April 30. |
- President Moon, in a meeting with
senior presidential aides, asks them to make full
preparation for follow-up measures to the Panmunjeom
Declaration.
- Reorganizing the Inter-Korean Summit
Preparation Committee into an implementation committee to
smoothly carry out follow-up measures; swiftly pushing for
what they can right now and beginning survey work regarding
the matters that require appropriate conditions; working
closely with the US to ensure the success of the North
Korea-US summit and opening a trilateral dialogue channel
between the two Koreas and the US; and signing, ratifying,
and proclaiming the inter-Korean agreement according to
legal procedures as soon as possible. |
| April 30. | - North Korea
announces that it will advance its clocks by half an hour to
sync with Korea Standard Time beginning on May 5 (in a
decree by the Presidium of the Supreme People’s
Assembly).
|
