By Joshua Berlinger, Nick Thompson and Euan McKirdy, CNN
South Korean President Moon Jae-in's motorcade has crossed the Unification Bridge, which is close to the DMZ.
Though they don't have to deal at all with traffic, the journey is taking a bit longer than expected, according to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She is on the ground near the bridge.
Evans Revere, a former deputy chief of mission and chargé d'affaires of the US Embassy in Seoul, spoke to CNN from Seoul about what to expect on at the summit.
He said the mood in some corners of South Korea is "optimistic bordering on euphoric."
"It’s pretty clear it’s not just the media here but the South Korean government that’s looking very openly and positively at this event," Revere said. “Expectations have been seriously elevated and whenever you have a situation like that, you really need to step back and reflect on what are the expectations.”
Revere said he was concerned that the dialogue coming from the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime has been too vague, a problem diplomats encountered during previous attempts at rapprochement with Pyongyang.
“The core issue going forward is going to be the one that we began with -- which is is the North Korean leader, is North Korea serious about going down the path of denuclearization? And my answer to that is I don’t know," he said.
"I suspect they may not be, but let’s hope that the North Koreans come to the table on Friday and say, 'We are serious and here’s evidence that we’re prepared to go down that path.' I’ll be the happiest man in the world if they come to the table and say something along those lines. But based on previous experience, I suspect they won’t.”
From CNN's Yoonjung Seo and James Griffiths
Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea (the main political party that runs North Korea), carried the news of the summit as their top story in today's paper.
The headline reads:
Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, left Pyongyang early on Friday morning for the historical North-South summit meeting and talks to be held in the south side portion of Panmunjom.
Ordinary South Koreans are largely unable to see how North Korea is framing the event. North Korean state media and propaganda is censored in the South under a national security law dating to before the Korean War, and the websites of the official Korean Central News Agency and other outlets are blocked.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in's motorcade has left Seoul en route for the DMZ.
He was greeted by cheering supporters waving South Korean flags outside the Blue House, his official residence, where he shook hands with veterans of the Korean War. Before he left, Moon greeted a large crowd and shook hands with several well-wishers before climbing into a car.
It's about 30 or so miles as the crow flies.
The South Korean government has gone all out promoting the summit as the start of a new, peaceful era in inter-Korean relations across the capital of Seoul.
This is what it looks like in South Korea:
A poster in the Gwanghwanmum area of Seoul shows two hands shaking with a translucent Korean Peninsula on top of them and the words, "Peace made by the South and the North, together with the city of Seoul."
The lawn in front of city hall in Seoul was manicured in the shape of the Korean Peninsula.
And the unification flags, the same display that the two Koreas marched under together during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, were lined up along the road leading up to the DMZ.
This graphic from the South Korean government shows the route that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may take to cross into the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
Here's what they said will happen:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in will hold talks at the Peace House on the southern side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas.
Here's what you need to know about the meeting grounds:
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet for the first time in more than a decade at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two countries.
Twelve months ago, a summit between North and South Korea would've been unthinkable.
Here's why:
That outreach helped open the diplomatic channels that both sides used to set up today's summit.
In March, Trump accepted Kim's invitation for a face-to-face meeting, which is expected to be held in late May or June.
From CNN’s Leslie Perrot
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Pyongyang for the North-South Korea summit, according to the state-run North Korean news agency KCNA.
KCNA reports that Kim left Pyongyang early Friday morning (local time) for the summit.
“The respected Supreme Leader is to cross the demarcation line at Panmunjom at 9 a.m. on Friday (local) to meet and have historical talks with President Moon Jae In," KCNA reported.
The state media reported that Kim will “open-heartedly discuss” with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in issues around “improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula."
After the summit meeting and talks, KCNA reports, Kim and Moon will plant a “memorial tree” and “make public” the outcome of the “historical Panmunjom talks," as well as attend a dinner hosted by Moon before Kim returns to Pyongyang.
