TOKYO — President Trump has a “very friendly view” of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and will make his wishes come true if he gives up his nuclear weapons, but until that point sanctions will remain in place, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said.
Moon also expressed optimism that Kim would visit Seoul soon, marking the first time a North Korean leader has ever done so and sending the world a message of his commitment to denuclearize.
After meeting Trump at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Moon said Trump had given him a message to bring to Kim.
“And the message was that President Trump has a very friendly view of Chairman Kim and that he likes him, and so he wishes Chairman Kim would implement the rest of their agreement and that he would make what Chairman Kim wants come true,” Moon told reporters on his presidential plane.
But Trump and Moon also agreed on the need to maintain existing sanctions against North Korea until it completely denuclearizes, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said over the weekend.
That statement would appear to leave talks at the same impasse where they have been stuck for weeks, with North Korea demanding sanctions relief before it makes any further concessions, and rejecting a U.S. demand to hand over a list of its nuclear weapons and missile facilities.
But Moon said the North is asking for “corresponding measures” that did not necessarily have to be reduction or removal of sanctions.
He suggested that they might include delaying or reducing U.S.-South Korea military exercises, humanitarian assistance, or sports and cultural exchanges, while a formal declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War “can also be considered.”
The war ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty, and North Korea has been asking for an end-of-war declaration to cease hostile relations with the United States. But Washington is wary of signing an agreement that might be used to undermine the status of the U.S. military presence in South Korea.
Over the weekend, Trump told reporters that he hoped to hold a second summit with Kim early next year, perhaps in January or February, and that three sites are under consideration.
“We’re getting along very well. We have a good relationship,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Asked whether he might consider inviting Kim to the United States, he replied: “At some point, yeah.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Moon and Trump “reaffirmed their commitment to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization” of North Korea, and agreed on the need for “maintaining vigorous enforcement of existing sanctions to ensure North Korea understands that denuclearization is the only path.”
Moon said Kim could visit Seoul for a summit before he meets Trump, while South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Monday that it still hopes such a visit can be arranged before the end of the year.
“I believe Kim’s Seoul visit itself will be a peaceful message to the world, and also a message of his commitment to denuclearization, commitment to the development of inter-Korean relations,” Moon said.
Moon said that if the North Korean leader came to Seoul, “all the people of South Korea will welcome Kim with open arms.”
But conservatives are sure to take issue with that statement.
In an editorial, the right-leaning DongA Ilbo warned that a rushed visit by Kim to Seoul would only produce “rose-tinted hugs” that don’t lead to substantial progress in denuclearization, while Chosun Ilbo warned of a repeat of the “Singapore fiasco” if Trump and Kim meet for a second time without making progress on nuclear negotiations.
Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
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