WASHINGTON, June 20 (NNN-Yonhap) — South Korea’s top nuclear envoy urged North Korea on Wednesday to hold a summit with President Moon Jae-in ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Seoul next week.
Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, issued the call in line with Moon’s own expressed desire to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the Trump trip.
Moon and Trump are due to hold talks in Seoul after they both attend the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28 and 29.
“I urge North Korea to respond to President Moon’s outstanding invitation to hold an inter-Korean summit, if possible, before President Trump visits Korea next week,” Lee said at an event at the Atlantic Council think tank.
Moon and Kim have held three summits since last year to try to bring a lasting peace to the peninsula through the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Plans for a fourth summit have not yet materialized due to an impasse in denuclearization negotiations between North Korea and the U.S.
Lee urged the North to “grab the opportunity when it presents itself,” citing Trump’s promise to provide economic aid in return for denuclearization.
He also noted while the South Korean government will continue to implement sanctions on the North until complete denuclearization has been achieved, sanctions are not a “magical solution.”
“They are merely a tool for bringing about the solution through negotiations,” he said.
Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, speaks to reporters before departing for Washington at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on June 18, 2019. Photo courtesy of Yonhap
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