North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un exchanged rare personal "letters of friendship" with his South Korean counterpart, outgoing President Moon Jae-In, less than three weeks before the latter's term ends.
In a report, North Korean state media outlet KCNA said that the letters were an "expression of their deep trust" between the two leaders. The incident came in the form of letters that were exchanged between the two officials earlier this week.
Letters of Friendship
Furthermore, the report indicated that Moon sent his letter to Kim on Wednesday where he promised to continue attempts to pursue the unification that they previously declared through several inter-Korean summits held in 2018. Efforts for the goal eventually stalled since and military tensions in the peninsular region have persisted.
These came after the failed North Korea-U.S. summit in 2019 where an agreement on the removal of sanctions went unreached. North Korean authorities also opted to end its self-imposed 2017 moratorium last month after they launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed near Japan's western coast, as per Yahoo News.
Kim also expressed a rare show of gratitude and praise for Moon, thanking him for trying to improve relations between the two regions. The gesture of goodwill may not be enough to head off growing tension between the two nations, said analysts.
Moon's successor is known to be a conservative leader who has already expressed his intentions of putting on a tougher stance on North Korea. Kim's praise of the outgoing president leads analysts to believe that it is his government's agenda to make Yoon Suk-Yeol responsible for the further deterioration of ties between the two Koreas.
According to Reuters, KCNA's report stated that Kim "appreciated the pains and effort taken by Moon Jae-In for the great cause of the nation until the last days of his term of office." In a briefing, Moon's spokesman said that the outgoing president believed that the "era of confrontation" should be overcome with dialogue. He added that inter-Korean engagement was now a task for his successor, Yoon.
Tensions Between Koreas
An associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Shawn Ho, said that the letters between the two leaders were a way to "sum up the efforts over the last five years." However, they warned that people should not jump to any conclusions that the letters of friendship will have similar counterparts in the next administration.
Ho said that Yoon's new government will likely take a "hugely different" hardline approach that has a "totally different set of key players." He added that the new administration will probably focus on strengthening cooperation with the United States and Japan. He expects some tensions to rise between the two Koreas in the coming months.
A professor at Ewha University in Seoul, Leif-Eric Easley, said that for North Korea, the letters do not immediately represent a shift to diplomacy, He noted that the North's government has already planned military displays. However, he said that friendly communication between the two regions is a "reminder that inter-Korean relations are not entirely confrontational and should include dialogue," CNBC reported.
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