ROK president has phone talks with Trump over Korean Peninsula situations

SEOUL - Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in had phone talks with US President Donald Trump Friday night (Seoul time) to discuss changes in the Korean Peninsula situations, caused by the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Blue House of the ROK said.

Moon and Trump had the phone conversation for about 35 minutes on Friday night, discussing the altered peninsula situations such as the agreed summits between the ROK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and between the DPRK and the United States, the Blue House said in a written press briefing.

The two leaders agreed to continue close coordination in every phase to encourage the DPRK to actively act with an aim of denuclearization.

Moon told Trump that the denuclearized Korean Peninsula is the most significant goal and process to secure peace on the peninsula as well as in the world, stressing the ROK position that it will never make any concession for the goal under any condition and situation.

The ROK president said he will seek to create a good atmosphere when he meets with top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, so that the US-DPRK summit can be held successfully.

Moon and Kim agreed to hold their first summit meeting in late April at Peace House, a ROK building in the truce village of Panmunjom. The first and second inter-Korean summits were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.

Trump said he would meet with Kim by May to achieve a permanent denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. If the meeting is realized as agreed upon, Trump will become the first sitting US president to hold a summit with a DPRK leader.