Moon hopes for 1st Kim visit

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could still visit Seoul for the first time in the next few weeks, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said yesterday, describing the possible trip as a major boost in efforts to make the peninsula nuclear-free.

Mr Moon and Mr Kim have met three times in 2018 amid warming ties between the two Koreas, with South Korea hoping to host a first-ever visit by Mr Kim to Seoul before year’s end.

But prospects of another meeting in coming weeks have dimmed as denuclearisation talks have stalled, prompting Mr Moon to say that the planned visit’s timing should not overshadow its historic nature.

“There is a possibility that Chairman Kim Jong-un’s visit to Seoul may be made within this year, but there’s more important things than the timing,” he said in translated remarks during a visit to New Zealand.

“Whether it’s this year or not isn’t that important, what’s important is that the North Korea leader’s visit to South Korea will definitely accelerate the denuclearisation process in the Korean peninsula.”

Mr Moon said a visit by Mr Kim to the South would also improve US-North Korea relations as Mr Kim and President Donald Trump look to follow up their June summit in Singapore.

“I believe that our efforts will definitely give a positive impetus to the second USNorth Korea summit meeting,” he said. “President Trump and I share a view in that regard.”

Mr Moon emphasised the impact Mr Kim’s presence in South Korea would have on the two nations. “This will be the first time that the North Korean leader will visit Seoul since Korea was divided into two countries,” he said.