Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Republic of Korea (ROK) leaders meet this week to deal with some the most difficult issues they confront, with an agreement on military affairs at the Pyongyang summit to prevent any armed conflict between the two Koreas topping the list.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un hold their second summit at the DPRK side of the border village of Panmunjom, on May 26, 2018. (File photo: Xinhua)

Remove the tension

"The first is to remove the tension and possibility of armed conflicts caused by the military confrontation between the South and the North, and to reduce fears of war," President Moon Jae-in said, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.

Moon also stressed the need to further reduce military tensions between the two Koreas.

Ways to end any threat of war would be on the dialogue agenda to fundamentally eliminate any possibility for military conflicts, Im Jong-seok, chief of staff for President Moon, told a press briefing Monday.

Denuclearization deal

Moon claimed Monday that his trip to North Korea this week will focus on brokering a denuclearization deal between the US and DPRK.

The leaders of the two Koreas agreed to completely denuclearize the peninsula and build lasting peace following their first summit in Panmunjom. The agreement was expected to be reconfirmed at the Pyongyang summit.

Lasting peace

Moon plans to seek the irreversible and lasting peace that will literally not shake despite how international conditions change, according to his briefing in a weekly meeting with his top aides at his office Cheong Wa Dae. 

During their first summit, Moon and Kim Jong-un agreed to transform the demilitarized zone into a peace zone and the west sea border area into a maritime peace zone.

The issue of separated families 

The ROK presidential office expressed optimism that this week's inter-Korean summit will result in substantial progress in addressing the issue of families separated by the Korean War.

"There will be separate in-depth discussions on ways to resolve the pain of separated families," Im told the media briefing. 

ROK and DPRK held family reunions last month at Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast in the latest reconciliatory measure since Moon and Kim held their first summit meeting in April. The reunions were the first since October 2015.

About 57,000 South Koreans hope to meet family members in the North. Before last month's reunions, the two Koreas had held 20 rounds of such meetings since their first inter-Korean summit in 2000, mostly involving around 100 families from each side, official data shows.

With the second summit was held in Panmunjom on May 26, September 18-20 will witness two leaders' third summit in Pyongyang as agreed upon in their April summit at the border village of Panmunjom.