Trump to visit ROK as hope raised for new talks

SEOUL/WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump will visit the Republic of Korea this weekend after an exchange of letters with Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, boosting hopes for a resumption of talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump was expected to arrive in the ROK for a two-day visit on Saturday and will meet ROK President Moon Jae-in on Sunday, following a summit of G20 leaders in Japan, Moon's spokeswoman Ko Min-jung, said on Monday.

The announcement came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped a letter Trump sent to Kim could pave the way for a revival of talks that have been stalled since a failed second summit between Trump and Kim in February.

Trump and Moon will have "in-depth discussions on ways to work together to foster lasting peace", Ko said.

ROK Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said on Tuesday that an inter-Korean summit to be held before Trump's visit to Seoul is unlikely, adding that Seoul was willing to arrange one, but there was no such plan currently.

On Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House that Kim had sent him birthday wishes. "It was just a very friendly letter both ways. We have a very good relationship," he said.

His comments came a day after DPRK state media quoted Kim as saying he had received a letter of "excellent content" from the US president.

Pompeo, who spoke of Trump's letter to Kim before leaving Washington on Sunday for a trip to the Middle East and Asia, said Washington was ready to resume talks with the DPRK immediately.

"I think we're in a better place," he said.

Asked if working-level discussions would begin soon, Pompeo said: "I think the remarks you saw out of North Korea (the DPRK) this morning suggest that may well be a very good possibility. We're ready to go, we're literally prepared to go at a moment's notice if the North Koreans indicate that they're prepared for those discussions."

Joseph Yun, US State Department's senior diplomat in charge of DPRK policy, told a panel discussion at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies that he expected there to be a third summit between Trump and Kim and it would probably take place "sooner rather than later".

Trump and Kim held their first, groundbreaking summit in Singapore in June last year, agreeing to establish new relations and work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

But a second summit in Vietnam in February ended without an agreement when the two sides were unable to bridge differences between US demands for denuclearization and DPRK demands for sanctions relief.

Reuters - Xinhua - Afp

(China Daily 06/26/2019 page11)