Kim Jong Un wants more summits in 2019, South Korea says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in

(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to meet frequently with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next year, South Korea's Blue House reported Sunday, citing a new letter from Kim.

"Chairman Kim said he is willing to meet often with President Moon next year to move forward discussions on peace and prosperity and resolve the issue of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said a statement from Moon's office. Kim expressed regret he has not yet visited Seoul after Moon came to Pyongyang in September, pledging to travel to South Korea soon.

Though the two Koreas are technically still at war, this is but the latest in a series of steps toward normalizing relations between North and South. This past fall, the two Koreas agreed to reconnect some roads and railways; removed weapons and guards from some parts of the demilitarized zone; and held talks on topics including fielding a joint Olympic team in 2020, making a bid to cohost the Olympics in 2032, and reuniting elderly people with family members they have not seen in half a century because of Korea's division.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.