Moon, Trump agree on need to maintain dialogue momentum over North Korea
President Moon Jae-in speaks on a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump from Cheong Wa Dae, Saturday. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump agreed Saturday that it was necessary to maintain dialogue momentum between Washington and Pyongyang, according to Cheong Wa Dae, amid growing worries about the future of Moon's Korea Peace Process.
During a half-hour phone conversation, they also agreed that the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is "severe" and "dialogue momentum should be maintained to achieve prompt results from denuclearization negotiations," presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said.
Moon and Trump had "in-depth consultations" on ways to move forward the peace process and agreed to call each other whenever it was needed, Ko added.
Earlier this week, North Korea resumed its verbal attacks against Trump in response to his apparent warning message made during his trip to Britain for a NATO summit.
Trump did not rule out the possibility of using military force against the regime, again calling its leader Kim Jong-un "Rocket Man."
The North's foreign ministry hit back at Trump. If he was deliberate and confrontational in mentioning the use of force, it should be "diagnosed as the relapse of the dotage of a dotard," Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The North has set the end of the year as a deadline for Washington to offer concessions in their nuclear talks, threatening to terminate dialogue and adopt a "new way" if the U.S. refuses to change tack. (Yonhap)