Woo Won-sik "It's been 7 years"..Kim Jong-un "Nice to meet you"

[Financial News] The conversation between Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly, and Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, was revealed on the 4th. When Speaker Woo greeted him after 7 years, Chairman Kim responded warmly.
Speaker Woo held a luncheon with correspondents in Beijing, China, on this day and shared the conversation he had with Chairman Kim before the 80th anniversary Victory Day parade the previous day.
Speaker Woo met Chairman Kim at the waiting area to ascend the podium just before the parade and exchanged handshakes. At this meeting, Speaker Woo greeted, "It's been a long time. It's been 7 years. Nice to meet you," and Chairman Kim responded in a low voice, "Yes. Nice to meet you," according to Speaker Woo's account.
Speaker Woo and Chairman Kim first met at a welcome dinner held at the Peace House in Panmunjom in April 2018, where they shared a drink.
However, Speaker Woo revealed that he could not continue the conversation for long. He said, "We briefly met and shook hands, but I felt on the spot that the situation is very difficult now, unlike 7 years ago," and explained, "I thought it was important to create peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Currently, North Korea is in a situation where it has designated our country as a hostile nation by advocating a two-state theory. It has erased the concept of a single Korean people and the unification of the Korean Peninsula that has continued for decades since the division. When Speaker Woo and Chairman Kim first met in 2018, inter-Korean and inter-Korean-US summits were held, so they reunited in a reversed atmosphere.
Speaker Woo also opened up about being asked by President Vladimir Putin of Russia if there was a message he wanted to convey to Chairman Kim.
According to Speaker Woo, President Putin asked, "What do you think about inter-Korean relations?" and Speaker Woo replied, "Maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula is connected to world peace and the safety of our people. I hope you take an interest."
After that, President Putin asked if there was a message he wanted to convey to Chairman Kim, and Speaker Woo expressed his intention to open an era of peace on the Korean Peninsula with the launch of the Lee Jae-myung government, saying, "It would be good to approach cultural exchange as the first step."
As an example of cultural exchange, he also proposed utilizing the UNESCO General Assembly to be held in our country next year, in a situation where our Ulsan Bangudae Petroglyphs and North Korea's Mount Kumgang are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. He suggested that after the assembly attendees tour Korea's World Heritage Sites, they could also visit North Korea's Mount Kumgang. Speaker Woo said, "I hope to go to Wonsan Kalma via Mount Kumgang. Please convey this," and President Putin replied, "I understand."
Speaker Woo also revealed that he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping the previous day and asked him to attend the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Gyeongju in October this year. Speaker Woo had previously met President Xi for the first time at the opening ceremony of the Winter Asian Games in February and requested his attendance at APEC.
Furthermore, on this day, he repeatedly requested President Xi's visit to Korea during a meeting with Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, who is the third-ranking official in China.

uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter