Moon vows active role to bring derailed nuke talks back on track

President Moon Jae-in, center, right, speaks at the start of a National Security Council meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. The meeting was the first in such directly chaired by the President in nearly nine months. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

President Moon Jae-in vowed Monday to mediate between Washington and Pyongyang, saying the failed summit in Hanoi doesn't necessarily mean that dialogue for nuclear disarmament has failed.

“In terms of the outcome of the Hanoi summit, I feel sorry that the two countries failed to reach an agreement. But this was also an opportunity to check on the important achievements that both the United States and North Korea have reached through bilateral dialogue,” Moon said at the start of a National Security Council (NSC) meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, according to press pool reports.

The main topics of the agenda for the Hanoi summit last week were the North's plans to permanently dismantle its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon under the direct control of international inspectors, the possibility for a partial lifting of economic sanctions and the establishment of a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang, the President said.

“South Korea hopes that the United States and North Korea can continue talking and can reach an agreement which was delayed at last week's meeting,” Moon said. He added that he will continue his role in helping to craft a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The NSC meeting was the first to be directly chaired by the President in nearly nine months. Moon ordered attending ministers who handle security-related affairs to explore ways to narrow the differences that resulted in the collapse of the talks.

“You have to try hard to find things that will advance inter-Korean relations within the broad range of the sanctions frame. An improvement in inter-Korean relations will provide fresh impetus for the nuclear dialogue between the United States and North Korea,” Moon said.

Trump walked away from the negotiations in the Vietnamese capital, leaving North Korea without sanctions relief and the United States without Pyongyang committing to a verifiable and full denuclearization.

Because Trump and Kim greeted each other with smiles in Hanoi, sitting together and oozing optimism, some experts here are asking the President to hold another summit with the North's leader “as early as possible” to prevent a further impasse.

In a forum held at the National Assembly, early Monday, former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok pitched the idea of holding another inter-Korean summit to move the denuclearization talks forward.

“If the President mediates to revive the momentum in the talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear program, then that will be welcomed by Pyongyang. As this is an urgent matter, the leaders of the Koreas should meet somewhere to exchange ideas. Panmunjeom is a good place on multiple fronts,” Lee told participants at the forum.

“We do not interpret the inability of the United States and North Korea to come to an agreement this time, as an indication that tensions which have noticeably eased over the past year, may rise again,” Christian de Guzman, a senior officer at Moody's Investors Service said in a note to clients.