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| South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wave to the crowd as the South's first lady Kim Jung-sook and the North's first lady Ri Sol-ju applaud before watching the North's "Glorious Country" performance at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, Wednesday. Moon gave the first ever speech by a South Korean leader to North Koreans urging cooperation to end hostility, and seek peace and prosperity. / Joint Press Corps |
By Park Ji-won, Joint Press Corps
SEOUL/PYONGYANG _ President Moon Jae-in gave a speech to North Korean citizens _ the first ever by a South Korean leader _ calling for the people's efforts to end 70 years of hostility and seek a new path toward peace and prosperity, at the close of a choreographed mass-performance in Pyongyang late Wednesday.
Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, along with their wives, watched the large-scale group gymnastics and artistic propaganda performances at the May Day Stadium on the second day of Moon's three-day summit trip to the North. After watching the performance, Moon said "we two leaders declared there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula and the beginning of a new era of peace for 80 million Korean citizens and the world.
"We have lived together for 5,000 years but separated for only 70. I, now, here, suggest that we completely end the past 70 years of hostility and draw a big picture of peace to become one again."
Praising Kim for his efforts, Moon spoke about their joint agreement made earlier that day saying, "Pyongyang citizens, fellow citizens who I love, today, I agreed with detailed measures to get rid of fears of war and risks of armed conflict from the Korean Peninsula."
Prior to Moon, Kim said "I and President Moon Jae-in made a meaningful result which will be a milestone on the way to seek development of North-South relations and peace and prosperity."
Expressing his gratitude to Moon, Kim urged people to applaud him.
Giving the first speech of its kind by a South Korean leader, Moon waved to the crowd at the stadium as they cheered for both him and Kim.
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| North Korea's "Glorious Country" performance was displayed at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, Wednesday. The flip-card mosaics read, "Let's not lose each other's hands, and pioneer our country's fate" and "Let's achieve unification, unification and unification." President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched the performance together and afterwards delivered speeches to the audience. / Joint Press Corps |
The mas-performance titled the "Glorious Country" was first unveiled Sept. 9, the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding, one of the most important events there to promote its regime.
Known as another version of the Arirang mass-performance, last performed in 2013, the show involves tens of thousands of performers, and an eye-catching display of acrobatics, gymnastics, dances and flip-card mosaic animations.
South Koreans worried about the content of the performance as it is based on propaganda praising the North Korean system. However, Wednesday's performance was a new version, which dropped anti-U.S. expressions as well as North Korean flags.
