In 2007, President Roh Moo-hyun walked over the Military Demarcation Line as the world watched and attended the second inter-Korean summit, which produced the 2007 North-South Summit Declaration. This document contained eight items, including detailed plans to carry out the June 15th Joint Declaration. It also contained items about mutual respect, an end to military hostilities, effort to declare an end to the war, a peace and cooperation zone in the West Sea, and expansion of economic cooperation. But inter-Korean relations deteriorated again after the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at Kumkangsan Mountain, the torpedoing of the South Korean naval ship, and an artillery attack on Yeonpyeongdo Island. 

Taking advantage of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in 2018, inter-Korean dialogue resumed and President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un held three summits. The two leaders confirmed their commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and building peace through the Panmunjom Declaration and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018. President Moon became the first South Korean leader to address North Korean citizens at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang. However, the inter-Korean relationship again chilled after the summit between the United States and North Korea in Hanoi broke down in 2019. 

Inter-Korean summits have provided crucial turning points in South-North relations since the country’s division. It was a milestone that pointed beyond Cold War-style confrontation and toward peace and coexistence. Although the current inter-Korean ties remain deadlocked, an inter-Korean summit is still regarded as a pivotal key that can turn a crisis into an opportunity, and the efforts to bring a peaceful reunification must continue.