Seoul Refutes Reports Alleging Kim's Possible Visit Late December

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The South Korean presidential administration refuted on Wednesday reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might visit Seoul on December 18-20.

"The information on the suggestion to hold a visit on December 18-20 is not true. As the president has mentioned, we are open to the visit until the end of the year, and at the beginning of the next year. It depends on the decision of North Korea," the Chunan Ilbo newspaper cited presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan as saying.

During the latest inter-Korean summit in September, Kim announced that he had agreed to visit Seoul "in the near future," while South Korean President Moon Jae-in later said that the visit was expected to take place this year. According to South Korean JTBS broadcaster, the visit might take place on December 18-20.

September's summit was the third meeting between Kim and Moon. The two parties signed a military agreement to cease large-scale artillery exercises and military flights near the demilitarized zone at the border between the two Koreas.

If Kim's visit to Seoul takes place at any time in the future, it will become first such visit of a North Korean leader to South Korea since the division of the peninsula in 1945.

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