South Korean President Moon Jae-in began his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday with possibly his hardest mission to date 鈥� brokering some kind of compromise to keep North Korea鈥檚 talks with Washington from imploding and pushing ahead with his own plans to expand economic co-operation and bring a stable peace to the Korean Peninsula.

Kim gave the South Korean president an exceedingly warm welcome, meeting him and his wife at Pyongyang鈥檚 airport 鈥� itself a very unusual gesture 鈥� then riding into town with Moon in an open limousine through streets lined with crowds of North Koreans, who cheered and waved the flag of their country and a blue-and-white flag that symbolizes Korean unity.

The made-for-television welcome is par for the course for Moon鈥檚 summits with Kim.

Hours after his arrival, Moon began an official summit with Kim at the ruling Workers鈥� Party headquarters. The two were joined by two of their top deputies 鈥� spy chief Suh Hoon and presidential security director Chung Eui-yong for Moon, and Kim Jong Un鈥檚 powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, and senior Workers鈥� Party official Kim Yong Chol for the North Korean leader, according to Moon鈥檚 office.

At the start of their meeting, Kim thanked Moon for brokering a June summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not too much to say that it鈥檚 Moon鈥檚 efforts that arranged a historic North Korea-U.S. summit. Because of that, the regional political situation has been stabilized and more progress is expected,鈥� Kim said, according to South Korean media pool reports.

Moon responded by expressing his own thanks to Kim for making a 鈥渂old decision鈥� in a New Year鈥檚 speech to open a new era of detente and send a delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics in February.

https://www.saobserver.net/news/korean-leaders-pledge-denuclearization-in-historic-meeting/

The results of the talks weren鈥檛 immediately available. Seoul officials earlier said they would focus on how to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, decrease military tensions along their border and improve overall ties. The North鈥檚 media said the talks would reaffirm their commitment to Korean peace, unity and prosperity.

During a conversation at the Paekhwawon guest house where Moon was to stay, Kim said North Koreans hope diplomacy will yield positive results. 鈥淚 think it was our people鈥檚 wish that we come up with good results as fast as we can,鈥� Kim said, according to the media pool reports.

Moon responded that 鈥淥ur hearts are fluttering, but at the same we have heavy hearts,鈥� and added, 鈥淲e have built trust and friendship between us, so I think all will be well.鈥�

The two are to meet again on Wednesday.

More than in their previous encounters, when the mere fact of meeting and resuming a dialogue was seen as a major step forward, Moon is under pressure to leave Thursday with some concrete accomplishments.

One of Moon鈥檚 objectives 鈥� and one that also interests Kim 鈥� was clear from the people he took with him. Traveling on Moon鈥檚 government jet was Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong and other business leaders, underscoring Moon鈥檚 hopes to expand cross-border business projects. Currently, however, all major joint projects between the Koreas are stalled because of U.S.-led sanctions.

But the nuclear issue was sure to cast a shadow over negotiations on joint projects.

Before leaving Seoul, Moon vowed to push for 鈥渋rreversible, permanent peace鈥� and for better dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

鈥淭his summit would be very meaningful if it yielded a resumption of North Korea-U.S. talks,鈥� Moon said Tuesday just before his departure. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important for South and North Korea to meet frequently, and we are turning to a phase where we can meet anytime we want.鈥�

But as Moon arrived, the North鈥檚 main newspaper lobbed a rhetorical volley at Washington that could make Moon鈥檚 job all the more delicate, blaming the United States alone for the lack of progress in denuclearization talks.

鈥淭he U.S. is totally to blame for the deadlocked DPRK-U.S. negotiations,鈥� the Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial, using the initials of the North鈥檚 formal name, the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea.

It said Washington is 鈥渟tubbornly insisting鈥� that the North dismantle its nuclear weapons first, an approach 鈥渨hich was rejected in the past DPRK-U.S. dialogues,鈥� while failing to show its will for confidence-building 鈥渋ncluding the declaration of the end of war which it had already pledged.鈥�

https://www.saobserver.net/national-news/white-house-trump-receives-new-letter-from-kim-jong-un/

While signalling his willingness to talk with Washington, Kim鈥檚 strategy has been to try to elbow the U.S. away from Seoul so that the two Koreas can take the lead in deciding how to bring peace and stability to their peninsula. North Korea maintains that it has developed its nuclear weapons to the point that it can now defend itself against a potential U.S. attack, and can now shift its focus to economic development and improved ties with the South.

Rarely do the North Korean official media even mention the word denuclearization.

Talks between the United States and North Korea have stalled since Kim鈥檚 meeting with Trump in Singapore in June.

North Korea has taken some steps, like dismantling its nuclear and rocket-engine testing sites, but U.S. officials have said it must take more serious disarmament steps before receiving outside concessions. Trump has indicated he may be open to holding another summit to resuscitate the talks, however.

For Kim, the timing of this week鈥檚 summit is good.

North Korea just completed an elaborate celebration replete with a military parade and huge rallies across the country to mark its 70th anniversary. China, signalling its support for Kim鈥檚 recent diplomatic moves, sent its third-highest party official to those festivities. That鈥檚 important because China is the North鈥檚 biggest economic partner and is an important political counterbalance to the United States.

To keep expectations from getting too high, Moon鈥檚 chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, said it鈥檚 鈥渄ifficult to have any optimistic outlook鈥� for progress on denuclearization during the summit. But he said he still expects the summit to produce meaningful agreements.

Some progress along those lines is already underway.

South Korea last week opened a liaison office in the North鈥檚 city of Kaesong, near the Demilitarized Zone. Another possible area of agreement could be on a formal statement on ending the Korean War, which was halted in 1953 by what was intended to be a temporary armistice. Military officials have discussed possibly disarming a jointly controlled area at the Koreas鈥� shared border village, removing front-line guard posts and halting hostile acts along their sea boundary.

Moon is the third South Korean leader to visit North Korea鈥檚 capital for summits, but the first since 2007.

https://www.saobserver.net/news/south-korea-to-remove-propaganda-loudspeakers-at-border/

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Kim reported from Seoul. AP journalists Kim Tong-hyung and Foster Klug contributed from Seoul. Talmadge is the AP鈥檚 Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter: @EricTalmadge

Eric Talmadge And Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press