North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will "open-heartedly" discuss pending inter-Korean issues with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a historic summit Friday, the North's state media said.

The North's leader left Pyongyang early Friday for a summit that will be held for the first time at the border truce village of Panmunjom, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an exceptionally swift manner.

Kim "will open-heartedly discuss with (President) Moon Jae-in all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean Peninsula," the report said.

The KCNA reported details about agenda items for the talks, but it did not mention North Korea's denuclearization.

The North's denuclearization is one of the three main agenda items for the summit that also include the establishment of a permanent peace on the peninsula and an improvement in inter-Korean ties.

North Korea announced Saturday that it would suspend nuclear and long-range missile tests and shut down its atomic test site in the northern area, but it stopped short of expressing its intention to dismantle its existing nuclear weapons.

Moon is expected to greet the North's leader at concrete curbs that serve as a military demarcation line at 9:30 a.m. 

Kim will become the first North Korean ruler to cross the border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Friday summit is only the third inter-Korean meeting following those in 2000 and 2007, both of which were held in Pyongyang.


It is unprecedented that the North's media reported the details of Kim's itinerary. In the past, North Korea delayed reporting the arrival of South Korean leaders -- Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun -- in Pyongyang for summits. (Yonhap)