Moon offers to hold trilateral summit with U.S., N. Korea

Mar 22, 2018, 09:00 am

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President Moon Jae-in hinted Wednesday at a possible trilateral summit with North Korea and the United States depending on the results of upcoming inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit, during the second plenary session of the presidential committee to prepare for the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un./ Source: Yonhap News

By AsiaToday reporter Son Ji-eun

President Moon Jae-in proposed Wednesday to hold the first-ever trilateral summit with North Korea and the United States. "Holding a North Korea-U.S. summit following an inter-Korean summit itself is a historical event. And depending on their outcomes, they may lead to a trilateral summit of South, North and U.S.," the president said while attending the second plenary session of the presidential committee for the upcoming inter-Korean dialogue, held at Cheong Wa Dae.

Moon expressed his strong will to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump to completely resolve the denuclearization issue, saying, "We must completely end the issues of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and establishing peace through these upcoming talks and others that will follow." It is also the completion of the Berlin initiative that Moon declared last year during his speech at the Korber Foundation, which was "pursuing a peace treaty with complete denuclearization through a comprehensive approach to the North Korean nuclear issue and a peace regime."

Moon ordered the summit preparation committee to make preparations for parliamentary ratification of the agreement, which he had mentioned before during his speech at a joint inter-Korean event commemorating the 17th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration last year, as well as at the Korber Foundation in Germany last year. The president instructed the committee members to "prepare for the ratification of the National Assembly by bringing together the agreements made during the previous inter-Korean summits." He emphasized the importance for institutionalized agreements between the two Koreas so it can be implemented continuously regardless of political situations in the country.

During the plenary session, South Korea decided to offer to hold a high-level dialogue with North Korea on March 29 at the Tongilgak administrative building on the northern side of the truce village of Panmunjom. The South Korean high-level delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon. Cheong Wa Dae is establishing an advisory group of about 30 to 40 experts in inter-Korean affairs, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom.

Meanwhile, President Moon Jae-in will visit Vietnam from March 22 to 24 and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from March 24 to March 27.

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