SEOUL, South Korea — President Moon Jae-in of South Korea arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday for his third summit with Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, to work toward a common goal: fashioning a political statement this year declaring the end of the Korean War.

Such a declaration, although not a legally binding treaty, could carry far-reaching repercussions, helping North Korea escalate its campaign for the withdrawal of American troops from the South, analysts said. For that and other reasons, the United States has strong reservations about such a breakthrough.

A smiling Mr. Kim hugged Mr. Moon after he stepped off his plane in the Pyongyang International Airport. As the two leaders later moved to their cars after inspecting a military honor guard, a crowd of North Koreans shouted “hurrah!” while fervently waving plastic flowers and “Korea-is-one” flags that showed an undivided Korean Peninsula. They then took an open convertible through the city, happily waving to throngs lined up along the route chanting “reunification of the fatherland!”

The 1950-53 war has never been formally ended with a peace treaty. Instead, it was halted with a truce after three years of combat between American-led United Nations forces defending the South and the Communist troops of North Korea and China. That leaves the divided Korean Peninsula still technically at war, although fighting ended 65 years ago.