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Rolling out a welcome for Kim Jong-un

  • Published
    26 April 2018
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South Korean Guard of honourImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Kim Jong-un would be the first leader to inspect South Korean guard of honour

Bernadette McCague & Pratik Jakhar
BBC UGC & Social News, BBC Monitoring

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are due to gather for their first summit in over a decade.

Preparations have been gathering pace but should you give the leader of the nation on the other side of a hotly-disputed border a red carpet welcome?

This is the dilemma faced by South Korea as it prepares to host Mr Kim at this week's historic inter-Korean summit.

  • North and South Korea: The petty side of diplomacy

  • The North Korean crisis in 300 words

Former South Korean Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun were each given such a reception when they travelled to North Korea in 2000 and 2007, respectively.

However, more than 1,000 people have signed a petition on the website of Cheong Wa Dae, external, South Korea's presidential office, opposing the honour guard treatment for Mr Kim.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In and North Korean leader Kim Jong-unImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Should South Korea hold a guard of honour for the North Korean president?

The courtesy has also been debated on Naver, one of South Korea's largest websites (which also partly redacts users' names to protect their anonymity).

Bazi**** wrote: "It's not achieving peace at all because North Korea already completed the development of nuclear weapons. Do we have to review the honour guard because they did it for our president before? The difference is that we never killed anyone in the North by shooting missiles."

Leek**** continued: "Review the honour guard to the enemy state? Why don't we just get rid of our military then?"

It all comes down to money for Thak****, who says: "Our government just wants to give in to everything that North Korea wants, even though it has not given up the nuclear ambition. Moon is only obsessed with North Korea. Please stop wasting taxpayers' money by spending it on North Korea."

A South Korean woman writes goodwill messages during a rally to welcome the forthcoming Inter-Korean SummitImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

What is the best way to welcome Kim Jong-un to South Korea?

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However, some South Korean internet users have come out in support of the government, applauding it for trying to mend ties with the North.

Naver user earlgreeyyyyy said: "Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun also received a review of the honour guard at the previous summits with the North. Isn't it sensible for us to return a favour? I don't see any problem with it."

Similarly, ap_da9pda wrote: "The South Korean government will do it informally anyway and also it's merely a way of returning the favour. I hope the inter-Korean summit will be successful."

Additional reporting by BBC Monitoring's Tae-Jun Kang

More on this story

  • What to expect from the Kim-Moon talks

    • Published
      26 April 2018
    South Korean President Moon Jae-In and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
  • The political gamble of the 21st Century

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    S Korean President Moon Jae-in

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