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Monday, May 28, 2018, 17:55
ROK: Moon-Kim-Trump meet depends on US-DPRK summit
By Xinhua
Monday, May 28, 2018, 17:55 By Xinhua

In this April 18, 2018 photo, people watch a TV screen showing file footage of US President Donald Trump, right, ROK President Moon Jae-in, middle, and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, ROK. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)

SEOUL/PYONGYANG – The Republic of Korea (ROK) has said whether to hold a summit of leaders of the ROK, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States will depend on the outcome of the DPRK-US summit set for June 12. 

ROK local media reported this Monday quoting an unidentified official from the presidential Blue House.

Announcement came amid heightened optimism about the summit between US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un with a US team visiting the DPRK as part of preparation for the meeting in Singapore.

There were media speculations recently that ROK President Moon Jae-in may visit Singapore around June 12 to declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war with this armistice agreement. 

ALSO READ: Trump says looking at June 12 summit with Kim

ROK media quoted the Blue House official as saying that the three-way summit could possibly be held in Singapore if all issues, including agenda, are perfectly dealt with at the working-level talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

Referring to denuclearization and the DPRK's security guarantee as the two main topics on Trump-Kim summit agenda, the official said President Moon can enter the three-way summit to declare the end to the Korean War as part of measures to guarantee the DPRK's security.

I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!

Donald Trump, US President

The diplomatic back and forth over the prospects for the Trump-Kim summit caught the world in surprise last Thursday, when Trump made public a letter to Kim in which he canceled the meeting, citing "tremendous anger and open hostility" displayed in the recent statements by the DPRK. 

Pyongyang issued a moderate statement in response, saying it is ready to sit down with the United States anytime in any manner for talks. 

A day later, Trump sent out another tweet, saying: "We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th."  

In a surprise move, Moon and Kim held a meeting Saturday on the DPRK side of the border village Panmunjom, the second inter-Korean summit in a month after their April 27 summit on the South Korean side of Panmunjom.

In a nationally televised address later on Sunday, Moon confirmed the willingness of Kim and Trump to hold the Singapore summit as scheduled.

US DELEGATION IN DPRK

President Trump said Sunday that a US diplomatic delegation had arrived in the DPRK to prepare for the meeting.

"Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong-un and myself," Trump tweeted.

The DPRK is also referred to as North Korea.

"I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!" Trump added. 

At the Panmunjom truce village on Sunday, US diplomat Sung Kim crossed the demarcation line into the DPRK for pre-summit negotiations with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

The diplomat was summoned from his current post as US Ambassador to the Philippines. He also served as top US envoy to the ROK and was the chief negotiator for denuclearization talks with Pyongyang during the George W Bush administration. 

READ MORE: Trump says US-DPRK summit likely remains as scheduled

After their Saturday’s meeting, Moon told the media that Kim "again made clear his commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and reaffirmed his commitment to the summit with Trump.

Acknowledging the differences between Washington and Pyongyang over the exact meaning of denuclearization, Moon had suggested that the two sides dispel possible misunderstandings via direct dialogues and hold working-level talks to resolve disagreements. 

On the DPRK side, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim expressed "fixed will" toward the summit with Trump. 

"Kim Jong-un told Moon Jae-in to positively cooperate with each other as ever to improve the DPRK-US relations and establish mechanism for permanent and durable peace," the KCNA said. 

The US demands "complete, verifiable and irreversible" dismantlement of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, but the DPRK refuses to unilaterally abandon its nuclear arsenal. 

Pyongyang insists on denuclearization of the whole Korean Peninsula, where Washington has troops stationed on the ROK territory and boasts a so-called nuclear umbrella protecting regional allies the ROK and Japan.

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