Before the summit, President Moon met with top U.S. officials who have been maintaining a hard line stance toward North Korea since the Hanoi summit... to try to find ways to resume talks with the North.
Park Hee-jun reports. President Moon Jae-in has stressed the importance of restarting talks between North Korea and the U.S. as quickly as possible.
Ahead of his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump,... President Moon met with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on Thursday,... and reaffirmed the close alliance between Seoul and Washington.
He said the Hanoi summit was just part of the process leading to North Korea's denuclearization,... and he promised to do everything possible to achieve peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
Pence said the U.S. will keep its positive stance with North Korea,... and keep the door open for dialogue.
He also said he's hopeful the U.S. can restart talks with the North.
President Moon also sat down with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton-- key U.S. negotiators leading the dialogue with North Korea.
President Moon said it's crucial to achieve results through top-down diplomacy,... and expressed confidence that it will be possible.
Appreciating the effort Pompeo and Bolton are putting in to achieve peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,... President Moon asked for their continued cooperation with their South Korean counterparts.
Pompeo and Bolton promised to keep talks going with North Korea at various levels.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.