Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see what happened during the historic summit.
The leaders of North Korea and South Korea met today for the first time in over a decade. Here are the highlights from the summit:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in met at the line that separates the divided Koreas. Kim then stepped over the raised Military Demarcation Line, entering territory controlled by the South for the very first time. After posing for the cameras, Kim then grasped Moon’s hand and they briefly crossed into the northern side:
The two leaders had meetings with officials, and then Kim and Moon took part in a symbolic tree-planting ceremony in the DMZ. The tree was from 1953, the year the Korean War armistice was signed.
Then, they signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula. The document commits the two countries to a nuclear-free peninsula and talks to bring a formal end to the Korean War.
The leaders ended the summit with a formal dinner — and a toast.
The United Nations Secretary General applauded the historic Korea summit and noted that many around the world are “moved by the powerful imagery,” according to a statement from his spokesman.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres “salutes the courage and leadership that resulted in the important commitments and agreed actions outlined” today, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary general, said.
Here’s the full statement:
Leaders of the two Koreas have agreed to end the Korean War — 65 years after hostilities ceased — in a wide-ranging joint announcement struck Friday,
The Koreas went to war in 1950 when soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army invaded the South.
The armed conflict ended three years later in 1953, with the signing of an armistice agreement, but no formal peace treaty was ever signed, and technically, the Peninsula remains at war.
Kim Jong Un left DMZ moments ago in a black a car — flanked by a group of running bodyguards.
The jogging bodyguards have traveled with Kim throughout the summit. Here’s a look at the security detail in action:
And that is that. Kim and Moon have left the demilitarized zone and the inter-Korean summit has officially come to a close.
Kim and his wife said their goodbyes to Moon and his wife before being driven in a car – flanked once again by Kim’s running bodyguards – out of the Peace Village and presumably en route to Pyongyang.
Kim and Moon leave behind a feeling of promise and positivity that hasn’t been felt on the Korean Peninsula for years. Along with a promise to finally end the war which has hung like a cloud over this part of the world for 65 years, the agreement they signed will see increased communication and cooperation going forward.
There will be much to debrief in the coming days and weeks for the two leaders and their allies, and now the focus will fall on US President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Kim – it’s been mooted for the end of May or beginning of June.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang congratulated North Korea and South Korea for a “successful summit” in a statement on Friday.
Here’s the statement:
Friday’s events in the demilitarized zone concluded with a suitably flashy performance. A Korean song called “One dream, One Korea” by South Korean singer Minah was performed by a pianist and accompanying orchestra while a huge projection was played onto the side of the Peace House.
It was an incredible spectacle and a breathtaking end to a truly epic day. Kim and Moon held hands while watching the performance, which was followed by an immense slide show projecting the day’s events onto the side of the building.
Moon, Kim, and their wives watched highlights of today’s events and a video entitled ‘Korea past, present and future’.
In one of a flurry of tweets Friday morning, US President Donald Trump praised the help that his “good friend” Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, has offered in moving forward the nascent peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
Speaking at the banquet following today’s summit, Kim said “we need to maintain peace” and “open a new era of co-prosperity” to overcome the challenges facing the Korean Peninsula. He said he was ready to “display commitment” to building peace “to the world.”
Following the summit, the two leaders and their wives attended a banquet dinner at the Panmunjom Truce Village.
In the picture below, Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju share a toast with Moon-Jae in.
For parts of the world that are just waking up, here’s a quick summary of Friday’s summit.
North and South Korea took the first tentative steps towards peace on Friday during a summit with global implications.
The day began when Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to cross into South Korean territory since fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953.
It culminated with the two countries vowing to formally end the war and agreeing to work towards the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.
Kim and Moon Jae-in had never met before they shook hands and posed for pictures on both sides of demarcation line separating the two Koreas on Friday morning.
After a morning of meetings with officials, Kim and Moon took part in a symbolic tree-planting ceremony in the DMZ. The tree is from 1953, the year the Korean War armistice was signed. Kim used soil from a mountain on the southern island of Jeju while Moon used earth from Mount Paektu in the north.
Then, the two leaders left their officials behind and walked alone through the DMZ to a footbridge that was recently repainted the same blue used on the Korean Unification Flag. Unexpectedly, they talked for 30 minutes alone.
The stunning moment of the summit when the pair signed an agreement on a range of measures aimed at reducing tensions and perhaps one day reuniting the Korean Peninsula.
They also agreed that Moon will travel to Pyongyang later this year.
Plus, the two countries will establish a “joint liaison office,” organize reunions of families separated by the six-decade-old conflict, and will arrange another high-level meeting to be held in mid-June.
US President Donald Trump is up and tweeting. He’s cautiously positive about the day’s progress:
In a second tweet, Trump wrote: “KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!”
South Korean President Moon will travel to Pyongyang later this year, according to the statement released by his office following the summit.
Moon and Kim also agreed to a host of other measures in the agreement they signed.
Here are some of them:
Mike Chinoy, senior fellow at the University of California’s US-China Institute and former CNN Beijing bureau chief:
Vipin Narang, professor of political science at MIT and a member of the school’s Security Studies Program:
Duyeon Kim, visiting senior fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul
Kim Jong Un didn’t address denuclearization when speaking after the signing ceremony, but the joint declaration signed by both leaders said that both sides have “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”
It goes on:
When asked about the fact that Kim didn’t mention the phrase, a spokesman for the Moon’s administration said “the agreement is a binding document. His speech is not.”
Standing alongside Moon at the foot of Peace House, Kim addressed the international media on Friday, declaring that the two Koreas are one united people who should work together toward reunification.
“We are not a people that should be confronting each other … we should be living in unity,” Kim said. “We have long waited for this moment to happen. All of us.”
Kim did not appear to mention denuclearization in his speech, though Moon said both sides agreed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
“The road I have used today, I sincerely hope every South and North Korean citizen can use this road,” Kim said. “We will be able to enjoy peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula without having to fear the war.”
The full text to today’s declaration in English can be found here
North and South Korea vowed to formally end the Korean War, 65 years after hostilities ceased, the two countries announced in a joint declaration Friday.
The document, formally called the “Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula,” was revealed after a full day of meetings and a 30-minute private conversation in the past hour between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in.
“The two leaders solemnly declared before the 80 million Korean people and the whole world that there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula and thus a new era of peace has begun,” the declaration said.
Fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953 in stalemate, after which an armistice agreement was signed. But a peace treaty never followed, and the two sides are still technically at war.
“There will not be any more war on the Korean Peninsula, a new era of peace has begun,” Moon said after signing the declaration.
“Chairman Kim Jong Un and I have agreed that complete denuclearization will be achieved, and that is our common goal.”
This post has been updated to clarify the translation.
A spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that Beijing applauds “the North and South Korean leaders for taking this historic step, and commend their political judgment and courage.”
“An ancient Chinese poem says: ‘Disasters are never powerful enough to separate real brothers, and a smile is all they need to eliminate the hard feelings.’ We hope they take this historic meeting at Panmunjom as an opportunity to further launch a new path leading to lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula,” she said.
China and North Korea are historic allies who boast an alliance forged in blood – more than 130,000 Chinese troops, including the son of Mao Zedong, died defending the North during the Korean War. They still maintain a mutual defense treaty, but the relationship has always been an uneasy one.
Though Mao once called the two countries as close as lips and teeth, their bond has become strained since Kim took power in 2011. Kim has purged several key officials with close ties to Beijing, including his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, and continued to test missiles and nuclear weapons in defiance of China’s wishes.
Kim had never traveled abroad as leader of his country until last month, when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
North Korea is still dependent on China for economic support – some 90% of its imports come from across the Yalu and Tumen rivers that divide the two countries – but China is worried that Pyongyang could strike a deal that brings it closer to Beijing’s adversaries.
Moon and Kim have returned from their walk and are back in the Peace House for afternoon meetings.
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