Tomorrow, here in Singapore, the North Korea-U.S. Summit will be held. All eyes from the world are on this historic summit. Being here, I am filled with emotions.

The events deemed unimaginable and impossible when the Moon Jae-in administration took office are now playing out before our eyes. I think this was all possible thanks to the combination of strong determination of leaders of the two Koreas and the U.S. to boldly break away from the past and to open up a new future.

We, from the Korean government, are here in Singapore, and reporters from Seoul and other countries are here to cover the Summit. Since the Summit is taking place between the U.S. and North Korea, however, we are cautious about directly addressing our positions or explaining about the Summit.

Nonetheless, we prepared a briefing in an effort to help hundreds of reporters who traveled a long distance. 

I believe that the arrival of the two leaders in Singapore yesterday to kick off the Summit itself carries a huge significance.

Although the two sides are expected to engage in intense negotiations until the Summit concludes, we hope that the Summit will produce good results.

Since last March 8th when NSC Director Chung Eui-yong made an announcement at the White House that the North Korean leader’s eagerness to meet President Trump and President Trump’s willingness to meet Chairman Kim, there have been two inter-Korean summits, two inter-Korean meetings of high-level officials, the Korea-U.S. summit on May 22 in Washington D.C, five telephone conversations and communication between the NSCs of Korea and the U.S. almost on a daily basis. In this way, the Korean government has closely coordinated with the U.S. and North Korea for the success of the North Korea-U.S. Summit. 

Through such frequent communication efforts, we made sure that our stance and plans have been well-conveyed to North Korea and the U.S., while they are preparing the North-U.S. Summit. 

As an official who has witnessed all the progress made so far at the arena of diplomacy, I would like to highlight unwavering dedication of President Moon with faith and commitment even under difficult and challenging circumstances and contribution of many other people who have made steadfast efforts to come this far. We have come a long way, and we are well aware that we still have a long way to go. 

I hope that tomorrow’s Summit can put an end to the structure of the world’s last remaining cold war and division of the Korean peninsula. I look forward to seeing the door wide open to peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsular. 

This concludes what I’ve prepared. 

Thank you.