By Hahm Hee-eun

Journalists and major media outlets from around the world, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and Reuters, have reported news about the surprise meeting between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Thongil House, in Panmunjeom on May 26.

The New York Times said that, “Mr. Kim met unexpectedly with Mr. Moon on Saturday to discuss salvaging a canceled summit meeting,” and asserted that the second Moon-Kim encounter is “a new twist in the whirlwind of diplomacy over the fate of the North’s nuclear arsenal.”

In particular, journalists highlighted the role played by President Moon Jae-in in the inter-Korean meeting.

Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reported on May 27 that, “Chairman Kim Jong Un has clearly taken the situation seriously, as he requested to meet President Moon Jae-in irrespective of how other countries would judge the action,” and added that, “President Moon Jae-in showed his ability to meet global expectations as a mediator, the meaning of the four character idiom Myunmokyakyeo (면목약여, 面目躍如).”

Major media outlets also noted the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea Summit in Singapore.

China Central Television delivered the breaking news on May 26 on its daily news program Xinwen Lianbo (新聞聯播) and emphasized the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea Summit in Singapore.

Russia’s Tass said on May 27, quoting North Korea’s Korea Central News Agency, that, “Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un has shown a strong desire for the formerly planned U.S.-North Korea Summit.”

Finally, Reuters interpreted the surprise meeting between President Moon and Chairman Kim as being “the most apparent signal for a U.S.-North Korea Summit on June 12 in Singapore.”

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