Kims Meet in Pyongyang: A Thaw Between Two Koreas

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met in Pyongyang on June 13, 2000, marking the first summit between the leaders of the two Koreas since the peninsula was divided in 1945. Kim Dae-jung, a former dissident who had been sentenced to death by a previous South Korean government, arrived at Pyongyang's Sunan airport to an elaborate state welcome that included Kim Jong-il personally greeting him on the tarmac, a gesture that stunned observers accustomed to the reclusive leader's absence from public diplomacy. The summit, held from June 13 to 15, produced the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration, in which both sides agreed to work toward reunification, promote economic cooperation, and arrange reunions for families separated since the Korean War. The declaration was intentionally vague on political specifics but represented the most significant diplomatic contact between the two governments in five decades of hostility. Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with the North had been controversial in South Korea, where many viewed any concession to Pyongyang as naive. The summit's emotional high point came when separated families, many elderly, met relatives they had not seen in fifty years. These reunions, held at the Mount Kumgang resort, produced scenes of anguished recognition that dominated Korean media for weeks. Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts. Later investigations revealed that Hyundai had secretly transferred $500 million to North Korea before the summit, raising questions about whether the meeting was effectively purchased. Kim Jong-il never reciprocated with a visit to Seoul. The Sunshine Policy was largely abandoned after conservative governments returned to power in South Korea, and North Korea's nuclear weapons program rendered its premises increasingly untenable.