Border Truce Village

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As the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom emerges as the most likely venue for the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit, attention turns to whether the area will also play host to a following trilateral meeting among the leaders of South and North Korean as well as the United States. Here’s more.

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"Panmunjeom has a considerable meaning as the venue marking a new milestone for peace." This is what Cheong Wa Dae said following President Donald Trump's mention of Panmunjeom as a possible venue for the U.S.-North Korea summit. This response reflects the presidential office's expectations for speedy progress in inter-Korean reconciliation. South Korea's peace road map for the Korean Peninsula envisions a U.S.-North Korea summit resulting in a denuclearization agreement, the end of the Korean War declared at the trilateral summit and officially concluding a peace treaty with China's participation. But Seoul projects that this timetable could speed up dramatically if the summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump takes place at Panmunjeom. In fact, a high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said a U.S.-DPRK summit at Panmunjeom could last for two days, hinting at a possible trilateral meeting with South Korea taking part later on. At this rate, however, a summit between Seoul and Washington, which was slated for some time before the meeting between the U.S. and North Korea, may not take place. The U.S.-DPRK talks have been moved up, and if President Trump comes to Panmunjeom, there is no need for President Moon Jae-in to fly to Washington. Cheong Wa Dae remained cautious, saying that the venue and time of the U.S.-North Korea summit are up to the participants, but still indicated its expectations that Panmunjeom, the symbol of division and starting point of the Cold War, could be reinterpreted as the sign of a historic transformation.