Implementation of 4.27 Panmunjeom Declaration

4.27 판문점선언, 어디까지 이행되었나?

Tomorrow will be a year since the first summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un.
And in their declaration at Panmunjeom, they made a number of promises.
Our Unification Ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee looks into how much of that has been implemented... and what remains to be done. (Chroma starts)
Improving inter-Korean relations, lowering military tensions,... and setting lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
With these as the major pillars, the Panmunjeom Declaration stipulated several actions plans for South and North Korea.
So, let's see how these actions plans have been carried out over the past year.
In August last year at North Korea's Mount Geumgang-san resort, Seoul and Pyeongyang held a week-long reunions of families separated by the Korean War -- the first of its kind in three years.
It brought together roughly 200 families from South and North Korea who met each other for the first time after the two Koreas' division in 1945.
A month later, Seoul and Pyeongyang opened a joint liaison office in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
It's the first-ever inter-Korean communication channel that runs 24/7.
Liaison officers are meeting every day to exchange documents or share notices.

The establishment of the contact office was followed by President Moon Jae-in's trip to the North Korean capital... for his third summit with Kim Jong-un.
Being the first visit by a South Korean President to the North in over a decade, the Pyeongyang summit led to a military agreement... and drew out Pyeongyang's promises to dismantle key nuclear and missile facilities.
South and North Korea jointly celebrated the 11th anniversary of their 2007 summit agreement on October 4th.
They also formed joint teams for a number of international sporting events, including the Asian Games last year.
But most importantly, Seoul and Pyeongyang took actions to turn the DMZ into a peace zone by, for example, removing guard posts and linking up a cross-border road.
However, left unresolved are -- inter-Korean projects on linking and modernizing railways and roads... and declaring an end to the Korean War.
The two Koreas conducted basic surveys on railways and roads in the North and at cross-border sections... and even held a groundbreaking ceremony,... but real construction can't begin unless sanctions are eased.
South and North Korea had also hoped to formally declare an end to the Korean War in 2018 to start multilateral talks on signing an official peace treaty, but that never materialized.
All in all, the two Koreas succeeded in activating dialogue, expanding interactions and easing tensions.
But progress will have to be made on the denuclearization front... to make steps forward in economic cooperation and ending the Korean War.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.