Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon (2nd from R), escorted by Lee Jae-yong (R), the de facto chief of Samsung Group, looks around Samsung Electronics Co.'s plant in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea, on August 6. Photo by Yonhap

SEOUL, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Heads of major South Korean conglomerates will be part of the South Korean delegation for the third North-South Korea summit in Pyongyang next week, South Korean media reported Thursday.

Some 10 to 15 business leaders of Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG will visit Pyongyang next week with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for the third summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to Maeil Business.

Those invited include vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and de facto leader of South Korea's largest Samsung Group Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Company Chung Eui-sun, chairman of SK Corporation Choi Tae-won, CEO of LG Group Koo Kwang-mo and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun.

The business magnates will be part of a 200-member South Korean delegation that will accompany Moon for the summit in Pyongyang, according to the report.

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Expectations for future economic cooperation between two Koreas are growing as works are underway to reconnect disjointed railways between the North and South and with the opening of the liaison office this week in the border city of Kaesong to facilitate cross-border communications.

According to the report, the business delegation include firms that participated in inter-Korean economic cooperation projects in the past, such as Hyundai Group. Hyundai operated tourist facilities and programs in Mt. Kumkang and the joint factory complex in Kaesong.

The business leaders have expressed deep interest in joining the South Korean delegation to the summit despite their concerns for economic and financial sanctions on North Korea because they trust the government can work out the hurdle, the report said, citing an unnamed source. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Leaders of South Korea, Japan and China will meet next week for a summit expected to focus on North Korea's nuclear program and other regional issues.

The three Asian countries have been holding regular trilateral summits since late 2008.

South Korea's presidential office said Tuesday that President Moon Jae-in will attend the May 9 meeting in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The Japanese government also confirmed the meeting.

Moon's office says he will brief Abe and Li about the results of his recent summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

It says Moon also plans to discuss ways to boost three-way cooperation in achieving denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - Senior South Korean officials may visit Pyongyang ahead of next week’s summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior South Korean official said on Tuesday.

Seoul and Pyongyang are discussing the wording of a possible joint statement to be released at the summit on April 27, the official said.

Likely agenda topics include the North’s nuclear weapons program and general inter-Korean relations, but any joint economic efforts are unlikely to be discussed, he said. </s> SEOUL, May 26 (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday to discuss Kim's possible upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, the South said, the second inter-Korean summit in as many months.

Moon and Kim met just north of the heavily militarised border in the afternoon to exchange views to pave way for a summit between North Korea and the United States, South Korea's presidential office said.

Moon will announce the outcome of his two-hour meeting with Kim on Sunday morning, officials aid. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Soyoung Kim Editing by Alison Williams) </s> SEOUL: Top US, South Korean and Japanese officials have discussed how to achieve a complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula ahead of upcoming inter-Korean and US-North Korean summit talks. Seoul has said previously that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to hold summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in late April. Seoul says Kim proposed meeting with President Donald Trump , and Trump agreed to him by the end of May.The developments have raised hopes for a potential breakthrough in the North Korean nuclear crisis.US National Security Adviser HR McMaster met his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in San Francisco for talks over the weekend on denuclearization and the summit talks.South Korea's presidential office says the three agreed to maintain close trilateral cooperation. </s> Two senior South Korean officials who met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un last week will split up to meet with leaders of China and Japan this week, a South Korean presidential official says.

Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said in a mobile message that National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong will meet with China's Xi Jinping on Monday while spy agency chief Suh Hoon will speak with Japan's Shinzo Abe on Tuesday.

Chung and Suh will leave for China and Japan separately on Monday to discuss their visit to North Korea with officials there. Chung is also scheduled to visit Russia after his trip to Beijing, but the details of that have yet to be announced.

The two officials returned on Sunday from a visit to the United States where an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for dialogue on his nuclear program was delivered to US President Donald Trump.

Trump agreed to meet with Kim and the two are expected to have the meeting some time before the end of May, although a time and place has not been set.

A Blue House official told reporters earlier on Sunday the truce village of Panmunjom at the inter-Korean border is a strong candidate for the US-North Korea summit. Kim will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Panmunjom before the end of April for the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade.

Other locations being floated in the media for the meeting between Trump and Kim include Switzerland, Sweden and the South Korean resort island of Jeju.

Officials from North Korea and the United States will speak directly with each other, while South Korea will be asked to consult with both, the South Korean official said. </s> South Korean President Moon Jae-In (R) and U.S. President Donald Trump (L) walk towards a guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony at the presidential Blue House on November 7, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
• South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday a three-way summit with North Korea and the United States is possible.
• Moon said talks should aim for an end to the nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula.
• President Donald Trump has said he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday a three-way summit with North Korea and the United States is possible and that talks should aim for an end to the nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula.

Moon is planning a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month after a flurry of diplomatic activity in Asia, Europe and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has also said he would meet Kim by the end of May.

"A North Korea-U.S. summit would be a historic event in itself following an inter-Korean summit," Moon said at the presidential Blue House in Seoul after a preparatory meeting for the inter-Korean summit.

"Depending on the location, it could be even more dramatic. And depending on progress, it may lead to a three-way summit between the South, North and the United States," he said.

Seoul officials are considering the border truce village of Panmunjom, where Moon and Kim are set for a one-day meeting, as the venue for talks between not only Kim and Moon but also a possible three-way meeting.

A Blue House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moon did not specifically refer to Panmunjom or that a three-way summit had been discussed with Washington before the president spoke.

The rush of recent diplomatic contacts began in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics in South Korea last month and helped ease tensions on the Korean peninsula caused by North Korea's pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.

South Korea wants to hold high-level talks with North Korea on March 29 to discuss a date and agenda for the inter-Korean summit and make a formal request to the North on Thursday, Moon's presidential office said.

North and South Korean officials should be able to agree on when the summit between Moon and Kim will take place once the officials from both sides meet this month, the Blue House official said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets a member of the special delegation of South Korea's President at a dinner in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 6, 2018. KCNA

Moon said the series of summits should aim for a "complete end" to the nuclear and peace issues on the Korean peninsula.

He said he has a "clear goal and vision", which is for the establishment of a lasting peace to replace the ceasefire signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean war. It also includes the normalization of North Korea-U.S. relations, the development of inter-Korean ties, and economic cooperation involving Pyongyang and Washington, he said.

However, the United States must also add its guarantee in order for peace to come about, Moon said.

"Whether the two Koreas live together or separately, we have to make it in a way that they prosper together and in peace, without interfering or causing damage to each other," Moon said.

The Blue House official said this could mean stopping propaganda broadcasts at the border that are commonly blasted from both sides over loudspeakers. The official could not say whether "interference" also referred to criticism over widely recognized human rights violations in North Korea.

South Korea and the United States will resume joint military drills next month, although the exercises are expected to overlap with the summit between the two Koreas.

Seoul and Washington delayed the annual drills until after the Winter Olympics, helping to foster conditions for a restart of such talks.

North Korea regularly denounces the drills as preparation for war but a South Korean special envoy has said Kim understood that the allies must continue their "routine" exercises. That exchange has not been confirmed.

The North's official KCNA news agency said on Wednesday a "dramatic atmosphere for reconciliation" had been created in cross-border ties and there had also been a sign of change in North Korea-U.S. relations.

That was "thanks to the proactive measure and peace-loving proposal" made by Pyongyang, not Trump's campaign to put maximum pressure on the country, KCNA said in a commentary.

The Blue House official also said earlier on Wednesday South Korea was in discussions with China and Japan for a three-way summit in Tokyo in early May. The three countries have not held such a meeting since November 2015, with relations soured by historical and territorial tensions. </s> The Korean leaders have agreed on a process to complete denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

The Korean leaders have agreed on a process to complete denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

THE KOREAN leaders have agreed on a process to completely denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in says the two leaders have reached a conclusion on a range of measures designed to bring an end to simmering tensions.

 He said North Korea will close its Tongchang-ri missile testing site following the ongoing three-day summit in Pyongyang.

"The North agreed to permanently close the Tongchang-ri missile engine test site and missile launch facility in the presence of experts from relevant nations," Mr Moon told reporters.

He also said the North had agreed to permanently dismantle its main Nyongban nuclear complex if the United States takes corresponding measures.

The two countries have also reportedly agreed to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics.



 The pair spoke at a new conference after signing a joint statement.

The defense chiefs of the two Koreas also signed their agreements that Seoul says are about reducing military tensions along the border.

Today marked the leaders' second day of summit talks in the North Korean capital.

They were accompanied by their wives and top government officials, including Moon's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong and Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, who is seen as one of the hermit nation's most popular figures in the regime.

Before their meeting, Mr Moon attended a performance of North Korea's iconicm ass games.

South Korean media pool reports said Mr Kim thanked Mr Moon for brokering his Singapore summit with US president Donald Trump in June, which he credited with bringing stability to the region.

Mr Moon is expected to depart back to Seoul tomorrow. </s> North and South Korea will hold a summit at their heavily armed border next month, Seoul’s envoy said Tuesday after meeting with Kim Jong Un on a trip to Pyongyang.

“The South and the North agreed to hold the third summit at... Panmunjom in late April,” said Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-In, referring to the truce village at the heavily-fortified border.

If realised, the summit will be the third meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas, which technically remain at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty.

The previous two summits were held in 2000 and 2007, respectively, under South Korean presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun who both advocated dialogue with Pyongyang.

They both met with Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il.

The two Koreas also agreed to open communication hotline between Moon and Kim to “defuse military tension and to have close coordination,” Chung said Tuesday.

The two leaders will have their first phone conversation before the planned summit, he added.

North Korea also pledged that it would freeze its nuclear and missile testing programme during the period of dialogue.
The heads of Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG will attend the third Inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang next week.