Korean leaders Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in exchanged personal letters this week, the northern state news agency KCNA reported. This file shows the two leaders at the end of an inter-Korean summit in 2018.
Pyeongyang Press Corps | Getty Images News Getty Images
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responded to a personal letter from outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in this week, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported.
According to the KCNA, Moon said he wanted to make joint declarations on both sides as a “basis for unification”, even after stepping down as president. Kim “appreciated Moon’s pain and effort,” the report said.
“The exchange of personal letters between the top leaders of the North and the South is an expression of their deep trust,” KCNA said.
A spokesman for Moon said the president had asked Kim to remain committed to co-operation and that the dialogue should overcome the “era of confrontation”, Reuters reported.
The news comes days after prisoner North conducted another missile test and weeks before the inauguration of South Korea’s new president, Yun Suk Yol, on May 10.
Relations between the two countries initially warmed under Moon, who held three summits with Kim in 2018. But ties have deteriorated sharply and the North has threatened military action. He also blew up his joint liaison office with South Korea in 2020.
However, the letters between Moon and Kim do not represent a transition to diplomacy, according to Leif-Eric Izley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. He noted that North Korea has planned military demonstrations.
However, he said that friendly communication between the two countries was “a reminder that inter-Korean relations are not entirely confrontational and should include dialogue”.
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