President Moon Jae-in sought to further rally the support of his people on Thursday over the outcome of his recent summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, holding a rare meeting with state leaders here, including the National Assembly speaker.
The meeting, held at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, came less than a week after the president held the historic summit with Kim on Friday at the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone.
National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun called the summit a historic event that marked the start of a "great journey."
"It was a very historic event that makes one even wonder if Panmunjom had ever attracted so much global attention before," he said at the start of the meeting, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.
"There had been many thoughts and concerns about the summit, but the great journey to peace has now certainly begun," he added.
Thursday's meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Lee Jin-sung and National Election Commission chief Kwon Soon-il.
The four, along with Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Meong-soo, who is currently on a three-nation trip to Spain, Argentina and Chile, make up the so-called highest five in the country.
Moon noted Thursday's meeting marked the third of its kind since he took office in May 2017 but apparently the first to be held without any urgent issues at hand.
Moon's latest meeting with the heads of the five key organizations was held in October, shortly after North Korea staged its sixth and most powerful nuclear test so far.
Under the Panmunjom Declaration, Moon and Kim agreed to halt their countries' hostile acts against each other while also affirming their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
A great majority of the local population has apparently welcomed the outcome of the third inter-Korean summit with an earlier poll showing Moon's approval rating spiking over 8 percentage points from a week earlier to 78.3 percent this week.