June 13 in History
2000- President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, in the northern capital of Pyongyang
On this day in 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in a summit that marked the first meeting between heads of the two countries, helping earn Kim Dae-jung the Nobel Peace Prize. The leaders of the two countries had four more summits since then, two in Pyongyang, and two in Panmunjom. Three of the meetings were held in 2018- April, May and September. The importance of 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 is 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.