The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae is set to launch a new situation room on Thursday to daily check its preparations for the upcoming summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The launch of the new situation room came at the direct instruction of the president, who on Wednesday called the upcoming summit a first step in a great transition toward peace.
"I ask you to create a situation room for preparations for the summit and to begin daily reviews of preparations from today," President Moon said while meeting with members of a summit preparation committee headed by his chief of staff Im Jong-seok.
President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting of the South-North Korea summit preparation committee at his office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on April 11. (Yonhap)
A Cheong Wa Dae official later said the situation room will consist of officials from the presidential office and other related government offices, including the foreign and unification ministries, adding that the list will be available later in the day.
Preparations for the historic Moon-Kim meeting include protocols for the two leaders and also security measures for the reclusive North Korean leader, who will be the first from the communist state's ruling family to step on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, Cheong Wa Dae officials have noted.
The inter-Korean summit will be held April 27 on the South Korean side of the joint security area inside the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas.
South and North Korea technically remain at war as the Korean War ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The upcoming summit will mark the third of its kind in history and the first since 2007.
Seoul's ongoing preparations to make the inter-Korean summit a success apparently also include efforts to ensure the success of the US-North Korea summit that will follow the South-North Korea summit.
US President Donald Trump has said he will likely meet Kim in May or early June.
If held, the Trump-Kim meeting will mark the first-ever US-North Korea summit.
"The North-US summit will have great significance in the history of the world by its very opening itself," Moon said Wednesday.
"I expect there to be a great outcome of taking a big step toward the establishment of lasting peace and peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as the two countries are preparing for their summit with determination. We must work to play the role of a great guide so the South-North Korea summit will lead to success in the North-US summit," he added. (Yonhap)