http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/04/koreas.summit/index.html
[quote author=CNN]North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun signed a joint statement Thursday, pledging to begin work on a permanent peace agreement that would replace the cease-fire accord signed at the end of the Korean War. The nations have remained technically at war for 54 years.[/quote]
This is history in the making, people.
I hope this is a genuine act by Kim. It would truly be awful for him to renege on such a monumental commitment. Even with joint efforts, it will be decades before N. Korea's economy is able to recoup to S. Korea's level. I wonder if they'll even be able to do effective inter-commerce because of that economic gap.
Did this come as a shock to other people in the globe? I know here in America, Kim is perceived as something of a megalomaniac - one of the last people I would have expected to reach out for peace. I always thought his successor may be the country's only hope.
[quote author=CNN]
On Tuesday Roh became the first South Korean leader to walk across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone between the two countries. His predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, flew to Pyongyang for the first Korean leaders summit in 2000.
"As president, I'm crossing this forbidden line this time," Roh said. "After I'm back, I hope that more people will follow suit, and then this forbidden line will eventually be erased."
[/quote]
Yeah, I guess that's next, tearing down the DMZ. Hope that goes off without a hitch...
[quote author=CNN]North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun signed a joint statement Thursday, pledging to begin work on a permanent peace agreement that would replace the cease-fire accord signed at the end of the Korean War. The nations have remained technically at war for 54 years.[/quote]
This is history in the making, people.
I hope this is a genuine act by Kim. It would truly be awful for him to renege on such a monumental commitment. Even with joint efforts, it will be decades before N. Korea's economy is able to recoup to S. Korea's level. I wonder if they'll even be able to do effective inter-commerce because of that economic gap.
Did this come as a shock to other people in the globe? I know here in America, Kim is perceived as something of a megalomaniac - one of the last people I would have expected to reach out for peace. I always thought his successor may be the country's only hope.
[quote author=CNN]
On Tuesday Roh became the first South Korean leader to walk across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone between the two countries. His predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, flew to Pyongyang for the first Korean leaders summit in 2000.
"As president, I'm crossing this forbidden line this time," Roh said. "After I'm back, I hope that more people will follow suit, and then this forbidden line will eventually be erased."
[/quote]
Yeah, I guess that's next, tearing down the DMZ. Hope that goes off without a hitch...