President Moon calls for another inter-Korean summit

South Korean President Moon Jae-in officially proposed Monday to hold another summit talk between the two Koreas. “I hope that whenever North Korea is ready the two Koreas will sit together to have concrete and practical discussion on ways to make progress, which goes beyond the two summits between the United States and North Korea,” the president said.

President Moon stressed at a meeting among his chiefs of staff that it is time to make active preparations and push forward with another inter-Korean summit. “U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with the need for a next summit between the two Koreas and expressed expectations,” President Moon said. “President Trump finds it possible to have a trilateral meeting between the United States and the two Koreas if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decides to join.” President Moon emphasized that North Korea also showed its determination to further dialogue.

Regarding North Korean leader Kim’s remarks at the Supreme People’s Assembly last Friday that he intends to have a third summit with Trump, President Moon said that it is highly acclaimed and welcome that North Korea showed constant determination. The South Korean president added that both South and North Koreas have a clear and firm will to implement the inter-Korean Joint Declaration gradually and patiently despite any hardship. President Moon’s comments seem to be an answer to Kim’s remarks that called for a boost to inter-Korean economic cooperation. Previously, Kim said that the South should not act as an “overstepping mediator” or a “facilitator.”

Furthermore, President Moon stressed that he would do his utmost to make sure that another inter-Korean summit produces greater chance and results. It is interpreted that he proposes to coordinate efforts via another inter-Korean summit just as his summit meetings with Kim on April 27 at Panmunjom and on Sept. 19 in Pyongyang to resolve denuclearization issues that have been left unaddressed between Washington and Pyongyang.

It has been reported that the South Korean government has had discussion on dispatching a special envoy to North Korea via the South’s National Intelligence Service and the North’s United Front Department channel on condition of holding another summit between the two Koreas.


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