SEOUL, March 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump will host his
South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in next month, Seoul said Friday, after the
latest summit between Washington and Pyongyang ended in deadlock.
Moon has long backed a policy of engagement with nuclear-armed, sanctions-
hit Pyongyang and was instrumental in brokering talks between Trump and North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
But the failure of Kim and Trump to reach an agreement in Hanoi on
curtailing Pyongyang’s nuclear programme in exchange for relaxation of
sanctions has raised questions over the future of the process.
Moon will visit Washington on April 11, the South’s presidential Blue House
said. Its spokesman had earlier told AFP it would be a two-day trip.
“The two leaders will have in-depth talks… to coordinate their stance on
setting up a peace regime on the Korean peninsula through complete
denuclearisation,” Yoon Do-han, the senior presidential press secretary said
Friday.
The White House confirmed the visit and the planned talks on North Korea.
“The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains
the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the
region,” the White House press secretary said in a statement, using the
official name of South Korea.
In Seoul, Moon has been under heavy criticism from the country’s right-
wing politicians for his dovish approach following the no-deal outcome from
Hanoi, with one lawmaker accusing him of acting as the “top spokesman” for
Kim Jong Un.
Moon had been pushing for the resumption of South Korean tourism to the
North’s Mount Kumgang and operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where
Southern firms used to be staffed by Northern workers.
But his plan to unveil details of such projects on March 1, right after the
Hanoi summit, was scrapped as Kim and Trump failed to reach a deal.
In Washington, the Hanoi outcome paradoxically brought Trump praise within
his Republican Party — some members had privately fretted he was too eager
to seal a deal.
Pyongyang last week abruptly pulled its staff out of an inter-Korean
liaison office, but the officials came back to the joint facility in the
Northern city of Kaesong days later.
Their return came after Trump announced he had “ordered” the withdrawal of
additional sanctions — without identifying the measures — against Pyongyang
by the US Treasury.