On April 27, president of South Korea, Moon Jae In, and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Un, will meet at Panmunjom to discuss peace negotiation for the Korean peninsula. For the meeting, each South and North Korea will send five representatives.
Experts say immediate negotiations on reunification of the Korean peninsula is near impossible, and that the prime purpose of this significant meeting must be focused on North Korea’s willingness to denuclearize and whether South Korea will accept to remove U.S force from her land.
Some South Koreans are worried and cautious about the meeting due to the unsuccessful peace negotiations in the past when South Korea paid North Korea a huge sum of money for a little in return. Moreover, young South Koreans say their economy cannot sustain if they unite with the poor North Koreans as overall tax will increase dramatically.
However, this peace negotiation is without a doubt a historical meeting. Two previous peace negotiations in 2000 and 2007 were both held in the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, but 2018 peace negotiation is announced to be held at Panmunjom. Panmunjom is a blue building located at the 38th parallel, Demilitarized Zone, and it is where the armistice was signed in 1953. This distinct change in meeting location from Pyongyang to the Demilitarized Zone shows both leaders’ willingness to truly pursue peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Would there finally be peace on the Korean Peninsula? Is this the first step towards reunification? Only time will tell.
Insight 