Kim Jong-un to hold his first summit with President Putin on Thursday afternoon
For the first time in eight years. the leaders of North Korea and Russia are going to meet today in the Russian city of Vladivostok.
And of course, eyes are on what North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin will talk about.
Will the talks be able to bear some fruit in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?
For more on today's summit, our foreign ministry correspondent Lee Ji-won is on the line for us.
So Ji-won, what can you tell us so far?
Ji-yoon, the Kim-Putin summit will start at sometime between 1 and 2 p.m. local time today, so within the next hour, at the Far Eastern Federal University, located on Russky Island, just off the coast of Vladivostok.
President Putin is expected to arrive in the next few minutes or so if he hasn't yet.
Their meeting will start with a one-on-one sitdown, followed by an expanded talk between the respective delegations, which will not result in the leaders signing any agreements or making a joint statement, according to Russia's presidential aide ( )Yuri Ushakov.
Now, Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing an official familiar with the organization says, the one-on-one sitdown will last less than an hour, and the expanded talks will go for about three hours, but we do not yet have the final list of delegates participating.
The news agency cited another source to say that a dinner banquet could be held for the leaders as their final item on their schedule for the day before President Putin leaves for China's "One Belt One Road" initiative forum, possibly today.
So what are we expecting from the talks today.
Well Ji-yoon, according to Ushakov, the focus of today's talk will be on finding a diplomatic solution to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
And Japan's NHK reported, that as one of the solutions, Putin is likely to suggest that Kim Jong-un resumes the six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. which were last held in 2009.
But with the Kremlin spokesperson downplaying the effectiveness of such talks, we'll have to see about that.
Now like you said, this is the first Pyeongyang-Moscow summit in eight years, the last one being in 2011 with Kim's late father Kim Jong-il meeting with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
And as much as the summit is seen as Kim Jong-un's effort to seek support from Russia after his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in Hanoi, the two leaders are also likely to discuss the need to ease UN sanctions against the North.
So aside from the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula the two sides are also expected to talk about their bilateral issues, especially their economic ties, considering that there are several transportation and economic officials in the Russian delegation, as revealed by Russia's TASS News Agency.
Possible joint-projects could include constructing a road crossing the Tumen river for easier transportation across the border.
Back to you Ji-yoon.
2019-04-25
