The 2000 inter-Korean summit was a meeting between South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, which took place in Pyongyang, North Korea from 13 to 15 June 2000. Following the summit, the two countries signed the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration, agreeing to resolve the issue of reunification independently, immediately address humanitarian concerns, and establish cooperative relations in all areas.
This meeting marked the first face-to-face dialogue between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea since the division of Korea. Besides successfully leading to the signing of the North–South Joint Declaration, the summit improved relations between the two countries, changed their perceptions of each other, and paved the way for future inter-Korean summits. Kim Dae-jung was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the same year. The meeting became one of the most important events in South Korea. However, as time passed, South Korea developed different views on this meeting; North Korea, on the other hand, has always regarded it as a "historic" national event.
Background
After the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula, which was under Japanese rule, was placed under the administration of the Soviet Union and the United States. For strategic reasons, neither country wanted the peninsula to be controlled by the other, and they decided to establish two regimes with the 38th parallel as the boundary: North Korea, which was pro-Soviet, and South Korea, which was pro-American. Afterwards, North and South Korea emphasized that they were the only legitimate regimes on the Korean Peninsula and refused to recognize the existence of the other. North Korea launched the Korean War in 1950 in order to achieve unification. In 1953, the war ended in a stalemate. Both sides accused each other of being the culprits of starting the civil war, and the relationship became even worse. Until the 1970s, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union improved, and the tensions between North and South Korea was also eased. During this period, the July 4 South–North Joint Statement was formulated, and a joint team was formed to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships and various cultural exchange activities. In these 20 years, exchanges between the two countries have gradually increased.
In 1994, the United States accused North Korea of developing nuclear facilities in Yongbyon County and advocated sending aircraft carriers and warships to bomb them. South Korean President Kim Young-sam stressed that he would not support the United States’ actions, which led the United States to abandon its military action. Subsequently, Kim Young-sam expressed his intention to visit Pyongyang, which was agreed to by North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, and the schedule was set for 25 July of the same year. However, the talks were canceled on 8 July after Kim Il Sung suddenly passed away. In 1997, Kim Dae-jung won the South Korean presidential election. In his inaugural address the following year, he said that the Cold War model was not conducive to the relationship between North and South Korea, and that only reconciliation between the two sides could achieve peace and unification on the peninsula. To this end, Kim Dae-jung implemented the Sunshine Policy after taking office, advocating to eliminate distrust between the two sides through action and achieve genuine reconciliation. However, South Korea was in the midst of the Asian financial crisis at this time. Therefore, Kim Dae-jung had to deal with economic issues first.
As 2000 approached, South Korea’s economy improved, allowing Kim Dae-jung to focus on North Korean affairs. In his New Year’s address that year, he called for the establishment of a North-South economic community. A month later, he issued the Berlin Declaration at the Free University of Berlin, stating that he would provide financial assistance to Pyongyang to develop its economy and jointly develop infrastructure in order to achieve reconciliation between the two countries. Initially, North Korea was very wary of the declaration, believing that the Blue House was using economic aid as a pretext to overthrow the North Korean regime. However, as Kim Dae-jung repeatedly emphasized that the purpose of the aid program was only to help North Korea improve its economic level and that there was no other intention, Pyongyang’s position softened. Then, North Korea began to make contact with South Korea through unofficial channels and sent a special envoy to the Blue House to express its willingness to hold a summit meeting. Therefore, South Korean Minister of Culture and Tourism Park Jie-won and North Korean Vice Chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee Song Ho-kyung held three informal meetings in Shanghai and Beijing from March to April 2000 as special envoys to prepare for the summit meeting. On 2 April, Kim Dae-jung said in an interview with Time magazine that dialogue was the way for North and South Korea to coexist peacefully, and said that he would "consider" holding a summit meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea after the National Assembly elections, but "needed the support of the people". On 8 April, Park and Song reached a consensus on the summit meeting and signed an agreement in Beijing. Two days later, Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu announced that Kim Dae-jung would visit Pyongyang from 12 to 14 June of the same year to hold talks with Kim Jong Il. On the same day, North Korea announced the news to the people on the front page of major newspapers, stating that the peaceful reunification of the peninsula is the greatest wish of the people and the legacy of the late President Kim Il Sung.
Preparations before the talks
On the eve of the announcement of the summit meeting at the Blue House, in order to build mutual trust, Major General Mike Dan of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command informed Lieutenant General Ri Chan-bok of the Korean People's Army in a private letter that the ROK-US joint military exercise would be held from 15 to 21 April, and emphasized that the exercise was only routine. After the announcement of the summit meeting, North and South Korea held five meetings at the Peace House and Unification Pavilion in Panmunjom from 22 April to 18 May to prepare for the summit meeting. They reached an agreement on 15 items, including the composition and size of the delegation, the form and topics of the talks, the dispatch of the advance team and transportation, and signed the North-South Working Procedure Agreement. In addition, Kim Dae-jung would not visit Mansudae, where a bronze statue of Kim Il Sung is placed, or the Juche Tower, which has political symbolism, during his visit; the flags of both sides will not be displayed at the meeting venues and the hotels where the delegations stay. Meanwhile, to ensure the smooth progress of the talks, North Korea entered a state of emergency in May and banned foreigners from entering the country throughout June; it also renovated Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, the main roads of the capital and the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse where the delegation stayed.
On the other hand, to create a friendly atmosphere, Pyongyang sent children's art troupes and variety troupes to Seoul to perform on 26 and 29 May. At the same time, North Korea cut off broadcasts criticizing the South Korean regime in the 38th parallel area and replaced them with traditional Korean music; the slogans were also changed to "Our people should not kill each other". On 30 May, the two countries agreed to carry a unified flag and appear together at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Summer Olympics, which will be held four months later. On the same day, South Korea sent a delegation of 30 people to Pyongyang via Panmunjom to make final preparations for the summit. This was the first time that South Korean officials had entered North Korea through Panmunjom since the high-level talks between North and South Korea in September 1992. In addition, Kim Jong Il also met with Chinese leader Jiang Zemin in Beijing at the same time to exchange views on the upcoming summit. This was the first visit by a North Korean leader to China in 13 years. Prior to the meeting, Japanese officials warned South Korean President Kim Dae-jung against touching on sensitive topics, such as ballistic missiles, since it may aggravate relations with the North and hinder opportunities for future meetings. On 5 June, the Blue House announced the list of personnel visiting North Korea. Among them, there were 10 official accompanying personnel.
- Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hun-jai
- Minister of Unification Park Jae-kyu
- Minister of Culture and Tourism Park Jie-won
- Chief of Staff of the President Han Kwang-ok
- Chief Secretary to the President Hwang Won-tak
- Presidential Chief Secretary and Spokesperson Park Jun-young
- Presidential Security Service Chief Ahn Ju-seop
- Presidential Chief Economic Secretary Lee Ki-ho
- Presidential Protocol Secretary Kim Ha-jung
- Presidential Physician Heo Gap-beom
In addition, the delegation included 24 special entourage members and 96 ordinary entourage members, totaling 130 people. Among them, the special entourage members came from political parties, business circles, cultural circles, academic circles and social figures with family members in North Korea. Then, the South Korean advance team conducted a field study in Pyongyang and successfully sent messages from there to Seoul.
The summit
13 June
On the evening of 10 June, North Korea made an emergency phone call, stating that it would postpone the summit by one day due to "technical relations". The Blue House then accepted the notification and called on the media not to speculate too much. As a result, Kim Dae-jung and his delegation postponed their departure by one day. On the morning of 13 June, before departing for Pyongyang, Kim Dae-jung addressed the nation, stating that he would visit North Korea "with the passion of loving the nation and the calm mind of reality", and hoped that the talks would open up a "path to peace" on the Korean Peninsula, eliminate the threat of war, and enable the 70 million people on the peninsula to live in peace. At the same time, he believed that the talks would not end with his return home, but would continue.
At 9 a.m., Kim Dae-jung, his wife Lee Hee-ho, and the rest of the delegation departed from Seongnam International Airport. Considering that there are no diplomatic relations between North and South Korea, Kim Dae-jung’s departure ceremony was kept simple in accordance with diplomatic protocol: there was no honor guard or foreign envoys to accompany him. Asiana Airlines was selected as the dedicated aircraft for this meeting. Based on the similarity between the airline’s Taegeuk symbol and the South Korean flag, in order to avoid misunderstanding and to comply with the agreement with North Korea not to display the national flag, the Taegeuk symbol near the tail of the dedicated aircraft was painted off. After arriving at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, the national anthem was not played. In addition, although the distance between Seongnam Airport and Pyongyang Airport is only 160 kilometers, in order to avoid flying over the North Korean military demarcation line, the dedicated aircraft had to detour through the Yellow Sea, making the entire flight time more than an hour. However, as Kim Dae-jung flew to the North, it was still uncertain whether the meeting would go ahead. The editor of the Korea Herald reflected on the day, stating: "whether (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il would show up or not at the airport was the talk of the town". 50 South Korean journalists accompanied Kim Dae-jung to the summit, while non-Korean journalists were prohibited from joining the South Korean President's delegation. A Chinese and a Russian news agency were the only non-Korean media in attendance. CNN, an American news network known for its favorable relationship with North Korea, was refused entry. Some of the South Korean journalists tried to leave the Koryo Hotel for an early morning stroll, but were informed that engaging in "personal contacts with Pyongyang citizens would depart from the spirit of the summit agreement".