Moon expects US, NK to hold working-level dialogue

President Moon Jae-in writes in a visitors' book as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waits during their meeting at Tongilgak, a building on the northern side of the truce village of Panmunjeom, Saturday. / Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae

By Lee Min-hyung

The United States and North Korea will hold working-level talks to prepare for a summit between their leaders, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday.

“The potential success of the June 12 summit between Washington and Pyongyang depends on whether the upcoming working-level negotiation goes smoothly,” Moon said at a media briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.

A day earlier, the President held an unexpected summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Tongilgak, on the northern side of the Panmunjeom truce village.

“I expect the planned summit to be successful as the U.S. and North Korea push ahead with the event at a time when the two countries fully recognize what each side wants,” Moon said.

Washington and Pyongyang are expected to narrow their differences on the latter's recent pledge to denuclearize during the working-level talks, for which the dates have not been reveled.

Asked whether the regime's pledge referred to complete, verification and irreversible denuclearization (CVID), President Moon said Washington and Pyongyang would discuss this during the working-level talks.

“It is not proper for me to speak on the North's specific denuclearization roadmap, because it is an agenda for Washington and Pyongyang to discuss,” he said, declining to say more.

The plan for U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un to meet has in recent days hit an unexpected snag, with Trump on Thursday expressing his will to cancel the summit amid intensifying verbal provocations from the North.

But according to the presidential house, Kim Jong-un offered Friday to meet President Moon to discuss challenges the regime faced in preparing for the scheduled summit with Trump.

“There have been some challenges for the North to carry out follow-up measures for the inter-Korean Panmunjeom Declaration signed on April 27 and prepare for the summit with the U.S.,” Moon said. “I thought it would be better for us to have candid talks on the issues in person, rather than holding a working-level dialogue.”

Moon also underlined that Kim Jong-un still had concerns about whether the safety of his regime could be guaranteed following its denuclearization.

Moon noted that Trump also shared his strong determination to put a complete end to the hostile relationship with the North and ensure the regime's safety of once it denuclearized.

The regime's Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) also reported on the recent inter-Korean summit.

“Leaders of the two Koreas exchanged in-depth ideas for the successful hosting of the upcoming Washington-Pyongyang summit,” the North's mouthpiece said Sunday.

It also reported on the resumption of the suspended high-level inter-Korean dialogue on June 1. The KCNA said starting from the dialogue, the leaders of the two Koreas also agreed to hold a series of peace talks ― such as the military and Red Cross talks. The latter is aimed at discussing reunions of separated families.