Inter-Korean summits

Inter-Korean summits
South Korean name
Hangul남북정상회담
Hanja南北頂上會談
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationNambuk Jeongsang Hoedam
McCune–ReischauerNambuk Chŏngsang Hoedam
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl북남수뇌상봉
Hancha北南首腦相逢
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationBungnam Sunoe Sangbong
McCune–ReischauerPungnam Sunoe Sangbong

Inter-Korean summits are meetings between the leaders of North and South Korea. To date, there have been five such meetings so far (2000, 2007, April 2018, May 2018, and September 2018), three of them being in Pyongyang, with another two in Panmunjom. The importance of these summits lies in the lack of formal communication between North and South Korea, which makes discussing political and economic issues difficult. The summits' agendas have included topics such as the ending of the 1950-53 war (currently there remains an armistice in force), the massive deployment of troops at the DMZ (approximately two million in total), the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea, and human rights issues.

Originally, the first inter-Korean summit was planned to take place on 25 July 1994 but the death of Kim Il Sung on 8 July, just 17 days prior to the scheduled meeting, meant these plans were abandoned.