It has taken 11 years for this to happen. Walking here, I wondered why it has taken so long.

The moment Chairman Kim crossed the Military Demarcation Line, Panmunjom became a symbol of peace, not a symbol of division.

This is how North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed their feelings about their summit, which was held at the Peace House of the truce village of Panmunjom on April 27 to write a new history of peace on the Korean Peninsula. It was the first summit between South and North Korea since 2007 and the third inter-Korean summit overall. But if the two Koreas had held a summit between former South Korean President Kim Young-sam and former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1994, the 2018 event would have been the fourth inter-Korean summit. Today, former South Korean deputy prime minister and unification minister Lee Hong-koo recalls a dramatic moment during preparations for an inter-Korean summit in 1994. On March 12, 1993, North Korea announced that it would withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The surprise announcement froze inter-Korean relations instantly and gave rise to the so-called first North Korean nuclear crisis. It also chilled the reconciliatory mood that had been created between Seoul and Pyongyang since South Korea’s July 7 declaration in 1988. The two sides held working-level contact in Panmunjom on March 19, 1994. During the meeting, chief North Korean delegate Park Yong-su made intimidating remarks, which plunged the Korean Peninsula into turmoil. 

Seoul isn’t far away from here. If war breaks out, Seoul will become a sea of fire. It will be difficult for you, too, Mr. Song, to survive.

North Korea’s threat to turn Seoul into a “sea of fire” shocked South Korea, prompting the Clinton administration in the U.S. to consider bombing the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon in North Korea. The Korean Peninsula was brought to the brink of war, when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited North Korea. Lee Hong-koo, who closely communicated with Carter at the time, reminisces about the moment.

Carter was greatly interested in South Korea and provided a lot of support to contribute to peace in the region. He proposed to visit North Korea to talk with leader Kim Il-sung, and then-U.S. President Bill Clinton agreed on the suggestion. Pyongyang said it would welcome Carter’s North Korea visit, and South Korea, too, said it was a good idea. So, Carter traveled to North Korea by way of South Korea on June 15, 1994. He told the North Korean leader that it would be irrational to wage war again since the Korean Peninsula had already been devastated from the Korean War. Carter also said that Clinton would be willing to cooperate if North Korea agrees to resolve the problem quickly. Kim Il-sung hailed the proposal on the whole, saying that his nation has no reason to develop nuclear weapons if the U.S. does not pressure North Korea militarily but promises to solve everything peacefully. That reminds me of what current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said during the latest inter-Korean summit. Back then, the U.S. implied that it would help North Korea rebuild its economy and even normalize bilateral relations. The North Korean leader made a positive response to that.

During his meeting with Kim Il-sung, Carter managed to elicit an agreement on a temporary freeze of North Korea’s nuclear program. The heightening North Korean nuclear crisis was fixed, at least for some time. Carter returned to Seoul on June 18, bringing another positive outcome with him. Let’s hear again from Mr. Lee. 

Carter said to me that he had told Kim Il-sung that he would report the result to Clinton but Kim would have to reach agreement with the South Korean President because South Korea is a directly involved country. Carter went on to say that Kim expressed his willingness to meet the South Korean president. Carter told me to confirm the fact right away. So, I checked it through the intelligence authorities. Carter was right. North Korea said that its leader and the U.S. president had already discussed the matter. As an inter-Korean summit had been decided, the two sides agreed to hold a bilateral preliminary meeting in Panmunjom at 10 a.m. on June 28.

On his way home, Carter delivered Kim Il-sung’s wish for an inter-Korean summit to South Korean President Kim Young-sam and unification minister Lee Hong-koo. The South Korean government announced that it would accept the first-ever inter-Korean summit without any condition. On June 28, ten days after the agreement on an inter-Korean summit, Seoul and Pyongyang held a preliminary contact led by officials at the deputy premier level. Here again is Mr. Lee. 

Until lunch on the day, the two sides showed differing views on the location of the summit. South Korea proposed that the first inter-Korean summit take place in Seoul, which had served as the capital for 600 years before Korea was divided. But the North Korean side frowned upon the idea, saying that Pyongyang should be the venue for the summit. Before the afternoon discussion session started, I said to North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-soon, “Mr. Kim. Both my president and your leader want to work things out. Let’s stop wrangling, and why don’t we, just the two of us, talk in the afternoon alone?” Kim said it was a great idea, so we held a meeting, unaccompanied by other delegates. As a matter of fact, President Kim had already set his plan before I attended the preliminary talks. His plan was to make a concession to North Korea by traveling to Pyongyang for the summit. So, I told the North Korean delegate to stop arguing about the location, as the South Korean president could visit Pyongyang. Then, he said that there would be no problem. After that, negotiations proceeded fast, and the two sides agreed that the South Korean president would visit Pyongyang for three days from July 23 for an inter-Korean summit. So we began to prepare for the historic event.

The two officials—Lee and Kim—agreed that an inter-Korean summit would be held in Pyongyang on July 25, 1994. Unfortunately, however, it turned out to be an unfulfilled promise. North Korean leader Kim Il-sung died on July 8, 17 days before the planned meeting with the South Korean president. Mr. Lee, who had been preparing for the summit so earnestly, couldn’t help feeling sorry for the abortive event. 

It was such a shame. At the time, the Cold War era was over. The Soviet Union wasn’t a problem, and then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was pursuing the policy of reform and openness. Vietnam was developing its economy through cooperation with the U.S. Amid the major change in international politics, North Korea may have ended up being isolated alone. But with the U.S. and South Korea actively extending a hand, North Korea would have undergone a significant and positive change, only if the inter-Korean summit had been held. If so, regional diplomacy would not have been entangled in the complicated nuclear row. China has aggressively developed its economy for the last 30 years to become the world’s second largest economy. If South and North Korea had cooperated successfully back then, North Korea wouldn’t have had to suffer from severe famine and economic hardships during the so-called Arduous March period in the mid-to-late 1990s. Rather, the two Koreas might have worked together to build a joint community of Korean people. But the hopeful future never came, due to Kim Il-sung’s unexpected death. Although the much-anticipated inter-Korean summit in 1994 never materialized, I’d say that it was, in a sense, the first summit between South and North Korea.

Someone said that there are no ifs in history. But if former South Korean President Kim Young-sam had met with his North Korean counterpart Kim Il-sung, the two Koreas could have provided a major turning point for peace on their divided peninsula a little bit earlier. That’s why many people recall the unfulfilled inter-Korean summit in 1994, which is described by some as an incomplete part of history. Although rather belated, the result of the 2018 inter-Korean summit should hopefully bring about lasting peace in the region.