President Trump spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Tuesday morning as Moon prepared to dispatch a special envoy to Pyongyang to resume nuclear negotiations with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
“The two leaders discussed the latest developments on the Korean peninsula, including our ongoing efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong Un,” the White House said in a readout of the call.
South Korea has not identified who its special envoys would be, though the primary purpose of the visit is to pave the way for a second summit between Kim and Moon later in late September. The latest trip by the South Koreans comes as the Trump administration struggles to make progress on dismantling Kim’s nuclear weapons program, despite promises the authoritarian leader made to the president during their first face-to-face meeting in June.
Trump directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late last month to cancel an upcoming trip to Pyongyang after North Korea’s vice chairman Kim Yong Chol reportedly sent U.S. officials a letter threatening to resume “nuclear and missile activities” if an appropriate compromise between the two countries could not be reached.
The president is expected to meet with Moon in New York at the United Nations General Assembly later this fall. Their bilateral meeting is scheduled to occur after the South Korean leader meets with Kim for a second time.
[Opinion: Trump’s tweets show lack of coordination and strategy in North Korea negotiations]
