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South Korea ready to facilitate third Trump-Kim summit
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Courtesy of Blue House/-)
S
outh Korea is ready at any time to facilitate a third US President Donald Trump-North Korean leader Kim Jong-un summit and ensure its success, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday.
Speaking to the senior editors of the Asia News Network (ANN) on the eve of the network’s 20th anniversary, Moon said that he would do everything to ensure the success of any future meetings between the US president and the chairman of North Korea.
“We have seen remarkable changes in the last year. Just 18 months ago there was much tension on the peninsula and genuine concern about the outbreak of war.”
After three summits between the South and the North as well as two Trump-Kim summits, Moon says tensions have lessened and the possibility of peace and denuclearization through dialogue is within reach.
Moon conceded that the previous Hanoi meeting between Trump and Kim did not achieve all expectations but said he was ready to do what was necessary.
“I will be ready and [I am] looking forward to meeting Chairman Kim,” Moon said.
Kim is currently on a state visit to Russia and will, for the first time, meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to analysts, Putin is expected to push the North Korean leader to restart six-party talks aimed at a peaceful resolution of North Korea’s weapons program.
As one of its longest-standing allies, Kim’s visit to Russia and his previous visits to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping are seen as attempts to shore up support as Kim continues his personal diplomacy with Moon and Trump.
Meanwhile, ANN celebrated its 20th anniversary in Seoul on Thursday with a meeting with Moon, who was named ANN Person of the Year in late 2018.
“Let me offer my congratulations upon the 20th anniversary of ANN’s foundation, which has grown into a media association that truly represents the whole of Asia,” he said in his remarks at the Blue House. “And I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to ANN for the fact that I was able to contribute articles to 12 media outlets in total through ANN, on the occasion of my trip to the ASEAN region in March.
“And I would also like to thank ANN for selecting me as the person of the year last year.”
ANN named Moon as its Person of the Year because of his insistence, persistence and patience in brokering a historical meeting between Trump and Kim.
“As you may be aware, my government has taken two major [different approaches] with regard to past administrations. First of all, regarding the Korean Peninsula issue, we have been striving to improve both inter-Korean and US-North Korea relations, and we have been undertaking these efforts through diplomacy and dialogue, in order to achieve complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and also establishing permanent peace,” Moon said.
“And the second element is that we are also striving through our New Southern Policy and also New Northern Policy to significantly increase and elevate our diplomacy as well as trade relations with countries in Asia.
“With regard to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, we have held three inter-Korean summits so far and we have also seen two US-DPRK summits take place so far as well. We are also continuing with the efforts to continue the dialogue.
“Through my trips to the ASEAN region, as well as India, and also through my recent trip to three countries in the Central Asian region, we have been making efforts to significantly increase our diplomacy as well as trade relations with these countries.
“In particular, we will be hosting the Korea-ASEAN commemorative summit as well as Korea-Mekong summit in November this year. Through these efforts we will be undertaking the initiative to significantly elevate our relations with countries in Asia,” he added.
According to Chon Shiyong, chairman of ANN and chief editor of The Korea Herald, “Our visit to the Blue House will enhance ANN’s reputation and builds a good connection with the Korean government.”
In an earlier meeting, Pana Janviroj, executive director of ANN, highlighted how the mainstream media must adapt to modern technology.
“The main challenge is how members can still deliver quality journalism amid the technological disruption of today,” he said.
The two-day event also discussed the ANN charter and the future direction of the news alliance.
ANN is a coalition of 23 leading news organizations in Asia. The network covers a region of over 2 billion people across 23 countries.
