Hopes of US President Donald Trump meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is high in South Korea an President Moon Jae-in seeks such summit to address the Korean peace process.
Cheong Wa Dae, a senior official from South Korea said Wednesday that Moon has high hopes that the two leaders might meet again to facilitate the Korea peace process ahead of the US presidential elections scheduled to be held in November.
The Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae) or South Korean Presidential palace has already conveyed the idea of Moon to the White House after North Korea demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Kaesong in June, said the official.
He also said that there was a "close communication" between the US and South Korea. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told Yonhap news agency about the latest development without giving any details about the diplomatic consultations.
In a virtual summit with EU Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, South Korean President has reiterated his resolve to maintain the dialogue process involving the U.S. and the two Koreas, "with patience," said the official. Describing the current relations between the two neighbours as a hard-won progress, Moon termed it as an "accomplishment" that should not be reverted, he said.
Meeting Unlikely: US Official
However, it is uncertain if Trump and Kim would meet for another summit within the year. Even the Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, special envoy for North Korea, expressed apprehensions about the likelihood of a meeting before the US elections amid COVID-19 pandemic, despite the Blue House official's statement.
The tension in the Korean peninsula last month has escalated to an extent of Pyongyang threatening a "military action" though it was called off at the last minute. Several cross-border incidents such as dirty leaflets about Kim's wife are behind the present escalation of tension, while North Korea's denuclearization process hit a deadlock for sometime.
The Cheong Wa Dae official hoped that the matter of resolving the North-US nuclear rift and establishment of peace in the Korean Peninsula should be seen together with the peace talks between Pyongyang and Washington, and as a "major first stepping stone" toward the peace process.
