But North Koreans who have fled to the South expressed deep scepticism that the summit would convince Pyongyang to open its doors wider or pave the way for national reunification.
"Maybe it (reunification) will happen one day a long time in the future, when we are no longer in this world," said another long-time exile, Park Jae-kwon, 75. "But I don't see it happening soon. It just cannot happen."
STRUGGLING
Kim Min-sue, 33, who fled his homeland but had to spend four years in China before he finally arrived in South Korea in 2001, has held one job after another, struggling to adjust to the South's fast-paced capitalist lifestyle which offers little sympathy to defectors from the hermit North.
But even so, returning is not an option.
"You can't even start comparing South Korea's flaws to the North's," Kim said at his home in Seoul. "That's how superior South Korean society is."
While the exiles who settled in Abaimaul were driven south by ideology, recent arrivals such as Kim Min-sue were also fleeing excruciating oppression and dire economic hardship.
In the early years of national division, the North had the economic upper hand but years of ruinous policies have turned it into a country that relies on aid to feed its people.
Some defectors have given up the battle to survive in the South.
Earlier this month, Kim Yong-sil jumped from her 10th floor apartment after failing to bring her young son to South Korea from China, first stop for nearly all defectors from the North.
Many defectors blame South Koreans and their government for not doing enough to help the newcomers settle.
"I hope this is the last time this happens," Park Sang-hak, a fellow former refugee, said at Kim Yong-sil's funeral.
"She put her life on the line to come to South Korea, the land of freedom and hope, but left without completing her responsibilities to her son."
