South Korea's Moon Says Next DPRK Leader Kim's Visit to Seoul to Happen Soon

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Moon Jae-in said at a news conference that the upcoming Kim Jong-un's visit to Seoul as well as the second US-North Korea summit which according to South Korean leader will happen "soon," will be turning points to cement peace on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean President also said in his New Year’s address, as broadcast by local TV channels that South Korea seeks to cooperate with the United States and other interested countries for lifting international sanctions imposed on North Korea.

Photo: AP/Korea Summit Press Pool.

"We will maintain our cooperation with the United States and other countries for the soonest settlement of the remaining issue of international sanctions … We go along a road of peace on the Korean Peninsula and we will go along this road faster this year," Moon said.

Moon argued there will be "one more breakthrough" in the settlement of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula in the near future, noting the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was expected to meet US President Donald Trump for the second time and to pay a visit to Seoul.

The South Korean president added that the settlement of the sanctions issue depended on the pace of North Korea’s denuclearization.

"North Korea should make more decisive and real moves for the denuclearization," Moon noted, saying that determining these actions would be a key task of the upcoming Kim-Trump meeting.

Moon said Kim had assured him during their latest summit that his understanding of the "full denuclearization" did not differ from the denuclearization that China, Russia, South Korea and the United States called for.

Kim recognized that the denuclearization and reaching the formal end to the war between the South and the North was not related to the status of the US military forces in South Korea, Moon argued.

Various economic and diplomatic sanctions have been imposed on North Korea in response to its repeated missile launches and nuclear tests carried out in violation of UN resolutions.