South Korea's Moon Vows To Push For Peace With North By 2019

South Korea's Moon Vows to Push for Peace With North by 2019

South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed Thursday upon his return from a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he would push for a peace treaty between the rival Koreas by the end of this year.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed Thursday upon his return from a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he would push for a peace treaty between the rival Koreas by the end of this year.

Moon said he expected the North to give up its nuclear weapons before a formal declaration can be adopted to end the Korean War. The three-year conflict stopped in 1953 after a ceasefire was signed.

Speaking in the South Korean capital of Seoul after his visit to the north, Moon said chairman Kim wanted a follow-up to his June summit with US President Donald Trump.

He told reporters Kim "wishes to hold the second US-North Korea summit as soon as possible" and urged the United States to "put itself in Pyongyang's shoes and resume dialogue."

Moon described this week's three-day summit with his North Korean counterpart as an effort to build trust. He did not share any new details of the North's denuclearization process, saying this was between Kim and Trump.

President Moon said he would travel to the United States next week for a high-level debate at the UN General Assembly. He will brief Trump on the results of his summit with Kim and pass a private message from the North's leader.

"The United States wants us to bring a message to North Korea, while North Korea has a message for the United States, and I will serve this role as soon as I meet president Trump," Moon said.

Kim also hoped for another meet-up with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to the South Korean president. He said Kim had invited Pompeo to come back to Pyongyang to discuss the path toward denuclearization. Pompeo last visited the North in July.

Secretary Pompeo said late on Wednesday the United States was "prepared to engage immediately in negotiations" to transform its relations with North Korea.

President Moon said he would discuss an end to the Korean War with Trump but urged the North to abandon its nuclear arsenal before any steps are made toward a lasting peace between the two Koreas.

"The goal is to sign a declaration on the end of the war within this year, I will raise this issue with President Trump," Moon told reporters.

He emphasized that the peace treaty in the decades-long war was not tied to US military presence on the peninsula. A decision on the future of 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, he said, was solely up to Seoul and Washington.