Seoul expects U.S.-N Korea summit to provide complete solution to N.K. nuclear issues

SEOUL. KAZINFORM - South Korea expects the upcoming meeting between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to provide a solution that fundamentally resolves the North Korean nuclear issue and brings in lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday, Yonhap reports. 

"We very much want the success and the outcome of the South-North (Korean) summit to lead into the U.S.-North Korea summit," Kang said at a reception hosted at her official residence to give a briefing on the result of the summit between Kim and President Moon Jae-in last Friday.

"We very much expect the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea to put everything on the table, foremost the nuclear issue, and come up with an agreement that provides a fundamental solution -- a peaceful, fundamental, complete solution -- to the North Korean nuclear issue and also a way for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," the minister told the community of foreign ambassadors to Seoul.

A total of 114 envoys from 105 foreign countries and nine international organizations attended the reception, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kang also referred to the issuance of the so-called "Panmunjom Declaration" following the inter-Korean summit, calling the result "fruitful" and "historic."

She also expressed her gratitude for international support for Seoul's diplomacy with North Korea. About 90 foreign governments issued messages of welcome and congratulation on the result of the Korean summit and that number is rising, she said.

They "encourage us even more to work closely with the U.S. for the success of the U.S.-North Korea summit," Kang said. "But the work doesn't end there. The nuts-and-bolts work of implementing the agreement that comes out will require another level of diplomatic engagement all around."

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