This combo of file photos shows a picture taken on May 10, 2016 of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un (left) on the balcony of the Grand People's Study House following a mass parade in Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang; and a picture taken on Aug 17, 2017 of ROK's President Moon Jae-In speaking during a press conference marking his first 100 days in office in Seoul. (PHOTO / AFP)
SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) maintained a plan to denuclearize the
Korean Peninsula in a "comprehensive and progressive" way, a senior official
with the presidential Blue House said Tuesday ahead of the summit with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) later this month.
According to that direction, basic strategy and roadmap should be prepared before going through negotiations
unnamed Blue House official
The unnamed Blue House official told local reporters that there had been nothing decided yet except a big picture that the denuclearization issue should be resolved in a comprehensive and progressive way, which President Moon Jae-in advocated, according to Yonhap news agency report.
READ MORE: ROK, DPRK leaders to meet April 27 in historic summit
"According to that direction, basic strategy and roadmap should be prepared before going through negotiations. It is now in the preparation phase," the official was quoted as saying.
The official noted that a big frame for the denuclearized Korean Peninsula would be set up through the inter-Korean summit before drawing an entire picture over the denuclearization through the DPRK-US summit.
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Moon and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un agreed to hold their first summit on April 27 at Peace House, a building controlled by the ROK in the truce village of Panmunjom.
If held as agreed upon, Kim will become the first DPRK leader to set foot on the ROK territory since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in armistice. The first and second inter-Korean summits were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, respectively.
US President Donald Trump said he would meet Kim, the DPRK leader, by the end of May.
The ROK will send a 7-member delegation to hold working-level talks with the DPRK to discuss security and protocol issues for the agreed summit, Seoul's unification ministry said.
The delegation will be led by Cho Han-ki, chief of the presidential protocol of the Blue House, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry informed the DPRK of the delegation list earlier in the day via the restored communications channel in the truce village of Panmunjom.
The two Koreas held a high-level dialogue last week, agreeing to hold the summit between Moon and Kim in Panmunjom.
To discuss security and protocol issues for the summit, the two sides agreed to hold a separate working-level meeting Wednesday in the ROK side of Panmunjom.
The ROK delegation included Shin Yong-wook, a deputy chief for presidential security service of the Blue House, and Kwun Kyuk-ki, director of Chunchugwan, the press center of the Blue House.
