'Seoul sent message for 4th inter-Korean summit'

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul speaks during a press briefing at the Seoul Government Complex, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Friday the government has officially sent a message to North Korea about holding another inter-Korean summit before U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit, here, at the end of this month.

“Holding another inter-Korean summit within this month is still possible. The government officially asked North Korea to review the South's proposal about holding a fourth encounter between President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before Trump's June visit, here,” Minister Kim said at the start of a forum held in the National Assembly. “If another inter-Korean summit happens before Trump's in-person meeting with President Moon, then that would be a huge plus in terms of gaining new momentum for a possible third U.S.-North Korea summit.”

The minister added South Korean officials are communicating with their North Korean counterparts to plan another meeting between the leaders of the Koreas, diligently, directly, indirectly, officially and unofficially.

Regarding the possibility of four-party denuclearization talks involving the two Koreas, the United States and China, the minister responded, “The key is whether the resumption of the talks between Pyongyang and Washington will not negatively influence (trade) conflicts between the United States and China and would be able to be separated from the trade dispute. I could say the issues could be separated.”

At the forum, the minister said China's active participation in the denuclearization talks will be more positive than negative in terms of breaking the impasse between Pyongyang and Washington.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their summit in Pyongyang for the first time in 14 years. The summit was held a week before Xi's planned summit with Trump at next week's G20 meeting to be held in Osaka, Japan.

Since the breakdown in Hanoi, South Korea has been looking for “various ways” to find a breakthrough to continue nuclear dialogue between the United States and North Korea.

Appreciating Kim Jong-un's letter to Trump in what the U.S. president dubbed a “beautiful letter,” Minister Kim said the letter be a “turning point” in breaking the impasse between Pyongyang and Washington.

“I expect that a series of upcoming bilateral talks between (South Korea and China and the U.S. and China) will play an important role to find a point of contact between Pyongyang and Washington and build trust with each other and create an atmosphere to resume negotiations and make further progress,” he said.