[Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged Monday to push for an informal inter-Korean summit occasionally as he did over the weekend in the truce village of Panmunjom to revive stalled talks between U.S. and North Korean leaders.
"There may be similar talks," Moon told a meeting of aides, adding such a quick meeting would help the two Koreas accelerate the "rapid" development of relations.
Departing from the precedent at previous inter-Korean talks, Moon and Kim simplified procedures to have a quick two-hour meeting in Panmunjom on Saturday, accompanied by one minister-level official from each side. The outcome of Saturday's meeting drew a favorable response from U.S. President Donald Trump and led to direct negotiations between U.S. and North Korean officials.
"What was most meaningful in the latest inter-Korean summit was the fact that the two Koreas summarily exchanged urgent issues, dispensing with troublesome procedures and forms to have easy contact as usual, and promised easily," Moon said.
Moon could make a trip to Singapore for a three-way summit with Kim and Trump next month, depending on the outcome of discussions in Panmunjom, an unnamed presidential official told reporters Monday. Moon has proposed a three-way summit to discuss a declaration on ending the status of war on the Korean peninsula.
In Washington, Trump said U.S. officials have been locked in talks with North Korean officials in Panmunjom to prepare for the summit in Singapore. "I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day," Trump wrote. "Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!"
The American side was led by Sung Kim, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea who served as a top negotiator at six-party nuclear talks, while Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, a career diplomat, headed the North Korean delegation. They are supposed to continue negotiations Monday and Tuesday, but South Korean officials remained tight-lipped.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
