[US-NK Summit] Seoul expresses hope for success of Trump-Kim summit

By Yonhap
  • Published : Jun 5, 2018 - 10:03
  • Updated : Jun 11, 2018 - 09:49

South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae welcomed the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, saying it sincerely hopes for the success of the historic meeting.

"Our government hopes for the success of the North Korea-US summit," Cheong Wa Dae said in a short statement released hours after the White House announced the first US-North Korea summit ever will start at 9 a.m. (local time) next Tuesday in Singapore.

Trump earlier called off his meeting with Kim, citing the North's tremendous anger and open hostility toward the United States.

He agreed to look into the possibility of going ahead with the proposed summit after a ranking North Korean official visited him last week with a letter from the North Korean leader.


The Trump-Kim summit, if held, will follow two historic meetings between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who helped arrange the unprecedented US-North Korea summit.

Moon has expressed hope the Trump-Kim meeting will lead to a nuclear deal to rid the North of its nuclear ambitions and also lead to a reduction of tension on the Korean Peninsula partly by declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

Cheong Wa Dae noted the country will continue to seek a formal end to the war but that such a move will depend on the success of the US-North Korea summit.

"Additional issues, such as a declaration of an end to the war, will be pursued by the South, the North and the United States under close cooperation with the international community after carefully watching the progress in the North Korea-US summit," it said.

The two Koreas technically remain at war as the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. (Yonhap)