South Korean President calls for summit with Kim

World Monday 15/April/2019 12:39 PM
By: Times News Service
South Korean President calls for summit with Kim

Seoul: South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that he will actively push for another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to help resume dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

"Now, it's time to actively prepare and push for a South-North summit," Moon told a meeting of his senior secretaries, referring to a potential fourth summit between the two Koreas. The leaders of the two countries held talks three times last year.

Moon said he hoped to make concrete and effective discussions with Kim 'in any place and formality at the North's convenience'.

The comment came after Moon visited Washington last week for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Moon said his Washington meeting with Trump was aimed to remove uncertainties raised after the second summit between Kim and Trump and restore the momentum of dialogue between the two in a renewed push for the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

The second Kim-Trump summit ended in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in late February with no agreement reached. After the Hanoi summit, Moon vowed to help resume dialogue between the two countries..

After the meeting with Moon, Trump said that "smaller deals" could happen "step by step" between the north and the US, though his country and South Korea were focusing on "the big deal."

"The big deal is we have to get rid of the nuclear weapons," Trump explained.

In a recent speech, North Korea's leader said he was willing to hold another summit with the US leader.

Responding on Twitter, Trump welcomed a third meeting with Kim.

"I agree with Kim Jong Un of North Korea that our personal relationship remains very good, perhaps the term excellent would be even more accurate, and that a third Summit would be good in that we fully understand where we each stand," he wrote.

Trump added, "North Korea has tremendous potential for extraordinary growth, economic success and riches under the leadership of Chairman Kim. I look forward to the day, which could be soon, when Nuclear Weapons and Sanctions can be removed, and then watching North Korea become one of the most successful nations of the World!"