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Moon, Xi to hold second summit in Vietnam

Posted November. 11, 2017 07:53,   

Updated November. 11, 2017 08:19

한국어

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold a presidential summit in Vietnam on Saturday (local time). The summit between Moon and Xi – after each leader had a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump before they set off for Vietnam – is expected to set a course for the international community on how to deal with North Korea’s nuclear program in the second half of 2017.

Moon left Indonesia on Friday and arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. According to the presidential office of South Korea, Moon will meet Xi in the afternoon on Saturday. The last time Moon and Xi met was at the G2O Summit in Germany in July.

Though the atmosphere was favorable and friendly during their first summit, Moon and Xi failed to reach an agreement on North Korea’s nuclear activity. Back then, Xi said, “China wants South Korea to remove the obstacle impeding development of relations between South Korea and China.” With some improvements recently made over THAAD issues, the presidential office of South Korea is expecting to see progress this time.

Moon and Xi are expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program and economic cooperation between South Korea and China mostly during the summit. THAAD will not be on the agenda. With Trump’s confirmation to cooperate with South Korea on how to deal with North Korea’s nuclear weapon during his visit to Seoul, Moon is likely to request for more active participation by China in execution of sanctions on North Korea by the international community. “We are expecting to make progress on North Korea as China supports South Korea’s peaceful resolution of the North’s nuclear program through the THAAD agreement made between South Korea and China late last month,” said a source at the presidential office.



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