PANMUNJOM/GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province -- The leaders of South and North Korea jointly planted a tree on Friday, an event that symbolizes their wish for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un planted the pine tree together near the Military Demarcation Line that separates the two Koreas. The tree-planting came after their historic summit talks held earlier in the day.
The two Koreas chose a tree that sprouted in 1953 to emphasize the year the armistice was signed to end the 1950-53 Korean War, according to a press release issued by the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.
(Cheong Wa Dae)
(Cheong Wa Dae)
(Cheong Wa Dae)
(Cheong Wa Dae)
The tree was planted on the southern side of the MDL near the road that late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung used in the late 1990s when he led truckloads of cows to the North as part of reconciliatory efforts.
Moon and Kim shoveled soil that had been collected from Mt. Halla in the South and Mt. Baekdu in the North over the tree's roots. Kim poured water from the Han River of the South and Moon from the Daedong River of the North.
South Korea suggested the tree planting event and the North accepted the idea. Moon and Kim unveiled a stone in front of the tree inscribed with their respective names. It also bears the phrase, "Plant peace and prosperity."
The two Koreas held a similar event in 2007 when then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met in Pyongyang. At the time, Roh and Kim Young-nam, the North's nominal head of state, planted a pine tree in the North Korean capital at the end of the second inter-Korean summit.
Following the tree planting event, the leaders took a stroll and walked onto the "Foot Bridge." They sat on a bench on the bridge and talked.
Shortly after the armistice was signed, the 50-meter-long bridge was built for the convenience of the staff from the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission tasked with overseeing the implementation of the armistice.(Yonhap)