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| President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
The timing of President Moon Jae-in's first talks with U.S. President Joe Biden is drawing attention, after the White House announced that the U.S. leader had begun making phone calls to global leaders following his taking office, Wednesday, starting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
President Moon has expressed enthusiasm for an early meeting with Biden. "President Moon hopes to meet with President Biden in person in the near future to strengthen friendship, trust and engage in candid talks on issues of common interest," presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said during a briefing, Thursday. Moon also called for early exchanges with the new U.S. leader during a New Year press conference at Cheong Wa Dae, Jan. 18.
With the clock ticking on his presidency, the Korean leader has indicated a strong desire to coordinate with the new U.S. administration on reviving talks with North Korea. "The peace process on the Korean Peninsula is not an option, but a path we must take," Moon said during a policy report by ministries involved in diplomacy and national security, Thursday. "The government will continue to work closely with the new Biden administration to advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and make every effort to return to dialogue and cooperation with North Korea."
The presidential office said that it did not have anything to share with the media about a phone call with Biden yet.
Speculation has been rising that Seoul will aim to realize the first Moon-Biden meeting in March at the earliest.
"President Moon may well want to be among the first foreign leaders to call on President Biden, the sooner the better, by March if at all possible. He would then have the opportunity to impress on Biden and his team, notably Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, his desire for dialog as urgently needed to ease tensions and move toward inter-Korean reconciliation," Donald Kirk, a columnist on Korean Peninsula issues, told The Korea Times.
"He might also press for expanded talks, including China and both Koreas. Resumption of six-party talks, including Japan and Russia, would appear unlikely, but above all Moon would hope in an early meeting with Biden to win strong support for dialog with the North of any kind, on any level."
President Moon talked on the phone with the new U.S. leader, Nov. 12, a few days after Biden's election win.
