Moon returns home after summit with Trump

President Moon Jae-in arrives at Seoul Airport at Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. / Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in returned home Thursday following his two-day trip to the United States for a bilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that largely focused on Trump's upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Moon's trip was earlier expected to focus on ways to ensure the success of the Trump-Kim summit scheduled to be held in Singapore on June 12.

The trip, however, proved to be critical in keeping the scheduled summit intact.

Trump surprised Moon and many others when he said at the start of his meeting with Moon on Tuesday that the U.S.-North Korea summit could be delayed if the right conditions are not met.

The U.S. president apparently held doubts about Kim's sincerity toward their meeting, as well as his willingness to denuclearize his communist homeland.

Moon reassured Trump that Kim is in fact serious about denuclearization.

Moon and Kim held a historic summit at the joint security area of Panmunjom that sits directly on the inter-Korean border.

Apparently helped by Moon's assurances, Trump agreed to push for his summit with Kim as scheduled, Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan said earlier.

The Moon-Trump summit marked the fourth of its kind since Moon took office in May 2017. (Yonhap)