South Korean President Moon Jae-in will sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at least twice for serious discussions during his three-day visit to Pyongyang starting Tuesday, but whether he can draw a meaningful progress towards denuclearization is uncertain, according to Moon’s chief of staff.

“Whether the two can reach detailed progress on denuclearization, or whether the agreement will be in writing or in words..all of these (questions) are ‘blank ones’ to us,” said Im Jong-seok, presidential chief of staff, Monday in a briefing at a special press conference room installed at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul.

The fact that denuclearization has been tabled as a formal agenda is a big step, Im added. Pyongyang so far has preferred to negotiate denuclearization directly with Washington. “The (upcoming) meeting would be very difficult and we cannot have any optimistic outlook,” he said.

Moon will depart from South Korea’s Seongnam Air Base at 8:40 a.m. on Tuesday and arrive in the North Korean capital at about 10:00 a.m. There will be an official welcome event and luncheon. The first round of summit will be held after the luncheon, which will be followed by a welcome performance later in the afternoon and a welcome dinner.

Moon and Kim will hold their second summit the following day, Im said, adding that there could be a joint announcement on what has been discussed between the two leaders if the summit progresses well.

Im also refrained to predict specific agreement on a war-ending declaration, but the two Koreas will work towards removing the dangers of armed clashes during the Pyongyang meeting. He also said there is a limit in pushing ahead with inter-Korean economic cooperation as it is bound by strict international sanctions. The issue on separated families will also be on the agenda, Im said.

By Kang Gye-man and Lee Eun-joo

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