Korean leaders meet for surprise second summit

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - The leaders of North and South Korea held their second summit in a month Saturday, taking onlookers by surprise following a cooling of inter-Korean ties during the past fortnight.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in travelled to the North Korean side of Panmunjom border village to meet his counterpart Kim Jong-un for two hours during the afternoon, according to Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan.

"The two leaders exchanged their candid views on the implementation of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and successful opening of the North-U.S. summit," Yoon said in a statement carried by Yonhap News Agency.

Any specific outcomes are set to be explained by Moon himself during a Sunday morning press briefing, after he already secured Kim's vow to denuclearize and pursue a peace agreement last month.

The meeting between the Korean leaders -- who were photographed in a warm embrace -- was the fourth inter-Korean summit ever, with the first two taking place in 2000 and 2007 respectively.

It was kept secret even as a spokesperson for Seoul's presidential office had addressed the media earlier Saturday welcoming President Donald Trump's U-turn barely a day after cancelling his own planned June 12 summit with Kim.

The American president apparently changed his mind after the North's regime issued a positive statement Friday morning demonstrating its willingness to hold dialogue.

Saturday's unheralded summit was all the more remarkable because the North broke off inter-Korean dialogue earlier this month due to the South's military exercises with the U.S. among other complaints.