Washington (January 11, 2018): United States President Donald Trump is open to hold talks with North Korea “under the right circumstances,” the White House said on Wednesday after South Korean President Moon Jae-In signaled a willingness to sit down with Kim Jong-Un.
Signs of a potential cooling following months of red-hot tensions on the Korean Peninsula came the day after North Korea reached a landmark agreement to send athletes to the Winter Olympics that will be hosted by the South, a move the international community broadly welcomed.
In a phone call with Moon, Trump expressed his openness to talks with Pyongyang “at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances,” the White House said.
The two leaders also “underscored the importance of continuing the maximum pressure campaign against North Korea,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders added in a statement confirming a South Korea account of the call.
“It is only the beginning,” Moon told a press conference. “Yesterday was the first step and I think we had a good start.” “Bringing North Korea to talks for denuclearization is the next step we must take.”
He was willing to hold a summit “at any time,” he said, “but it cannot be a meeting for meeting´s sake. To hold a summit, the right conditions must be created and certain outcomes must be guaranteed.”
Moon has long supported engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table over banned weapons programs that have alarmed the US and the global community, and seen Pyongyang subjected to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions.
But the US has said the regime must stop nuclear tests if negotiations with Washington are to take place.
“We have no difference in opinion with the US,” Moon insisted, saying they shared an understanding about security, were working together and were both threatened by the North´s nuclear weapons and missiles.
But he stressed the aim of sanctions was to bring Pyongyang to talks, and “stronger sanctions and pressures could further heighten tensions and lead to accidental armed conflicts.”
Seoul had no plans to ease its unilateral sanctions at present, Moon said.
“If I weren´t involved, they wouldn´t be talking about the Olympics right now, they´d be doing no talking,” Trump said at the weekend. Moon acknowledged his efforts Wednesday.
“I think President Trump´s role in the realization of inter-Korean talks was very big,” he said. “I would like to express my gratitude.”
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