A week before the second summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S., South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump have vowed to continue to pressure the regime to abondon its nuclear weapons program.
Also during their first phone conversation in months, President Moon said Seoul is willing to upgrade inter-Korean joint projects to lessen the U.S. burden.
President Moon Jae-in told President Trump during a 35-minute phone conversation late last night that Seoul is willing to reopen economic engagement with North Korea.
The South Korean leader's exact words, according to spokesperson, were "we are determined to take up the role if President Trump asks, if that's the way to lessen the U.S. burden."
In other words, President Moon hinted at the possibility that Seoul and Washington the pursuit of joint inter-Korean projects something that begins with the lifting of the sanctions on the regime as a corresponding measure to its denuclearization progress.
This is the first time that the South Korean leader had talked about the idea of economic concessions to boost the outcome of the Kim-Trump summit, and the first since President Moon's overseas trip to Europe late last year, where he had called for European leaders' support in relieving sanctions.
President Trump expressed high hopes for the summit and he promised to exchange the details of the outcome and the follow-up measures with President Moon right after the summit nd added he hopes to hold a face-to-face meeting with Moon to discuss the outcomes as well.
The U.S. State Department says the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun left for Hanoi on Tuesday to prepare for next week's summit between the two countries' leaders.
This comes as North Korea's Special Representative for U.S. Affairs, Kim Hyok-chol, is also on his way to the Vietnamese capital.
Kim Hyok-chol is joined by Choe Kang-il, North Korea's Deputy Director-General for North American affairs and Kim Song-hye, head of North Korea's United Front Department.
The two sides are expected to discuss what concrete denuclearization steps the North is willing to take, and what the U.S. will offer in return.
Source: Arirang News
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