13 August 2018•Update: 13 August 2018
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
The third inter-Korean summit of 2018 is set to take place in Pyongyang next month, according to a joint statement released after high-level talks Monday between Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and his counterpart Ri Son-gwon.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in initially agreed to visit the North Korean capital when he met Chairman Kim Jong-un at the border for their first-ever meeting in April, following a gap of more than a decade since the previous inter-Korean summit.
They held a surprise follow-up meeting in May -- and were photographed in a warm embrace -- but since then the North has repeatedly expressed its frustration with what it sees as a lack of progress in inter-Korean cooperation due to U.S. influence over the South.
However, there were no concrete announcements either Monday on challenging issues such as reducing sanctions against North Korea or a formal peace treaty -- both of which rely on the North's denuclearization, based on Seoul and Washington's official stance.
With even the date for the Pyongyang summit yet to be revealed, Seoul's presidential office later hinted via spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom it would likely be several weeks away as it "might be a little difficult" to organise by early September."
"Since North Korea is the host who made the invitation, the North will decide the date considering its own conditions," he added in quotes carried by local news agency.
May’s unheralded fourth inter-Korean 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.
