WASHINGTON - South Korean President Moon Jae-in headed home Thursday after a summit with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to keep North Korean denuclearization talks from falling apart. Moon’s departure came hours after he and Trump met at the White House to discuss ways to restart North Korea-US dialogue on ridding the North of its nuclear weapons. “The two leaders shared a view that the top-down approach is critical to the Korean Peninsula peace process,” Moon’s top security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, told a press briefing.
“In this regard, President Trump said the door for dialogue with Chairman Kim is always open,” he added. The South Korean president arrived here Wednesday.
The Moon-Trump summit followed the second U.S.-North Korea summit held in Hanoi in late February, in which Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un failed to strike a nuclear deal.
Denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea have nearly halted since. Thursday’s meeting between Moon and Trump marked the seventh of its kind since Moon took office in May 2017.
Moon highlighted the importance of continued dialogue, also calling for a third Trump-Kim summit at an early date.
“I believe what is important now is to maintain the momentum of dialogue and offer an outlook to the world that a third North Korea-U.S. summit will be held in the near future,” Moon said at the start of his meeting with Trump.
The U.S. president expressed his willingness to meet again with the North Korean leader but said it will be a step-by-step process.
“I enjoy the summits. I enjoy being with the chairman, and it really has been productive,” Trump said. “If it goes fast, it’s not going to be a proper deal,” he added.
Moon said he will now push to hold a meeting with the North Korean leader. Trump earlier asked the South Korean president to help facilitate his future dialogue with Kim.
Moon and Kim have held three meetings, the latest in Pyongyang in September. No schedule has been set for a fourth Moon-Kim summit, but Kim has promised to visit South Korea in return for Moon’s trip to Pyongyang for the last summit.