(LEAD) S. Korea to pursue engaging, denuclearizing N. Korea simultaneously: Moon

(ATTN: RECASTS headline; UPDATES throughout)

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will simultaneously pursue efforts to engage North Korea and denuclearize the country instead of choosing one over the other, President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday.

"Efforts for denuclearizing North Korea and efforts for improving the South-North Korea relationship are not a matter of choosing one over the other. They should rather be pursued in a way that they make up for each other," Moon was quoted as saying during the foreign ministry's policy briefing session with him.

His remarks came as South Korea and the United States are warming toward using direct talks with North Korea to achieve the denuclearization of the country instead of insisting on their previous hard-line stance that dialogue could come only after headway in the denuclearization front.

"There were some notable remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump and (Secretary of State) Rex Tillerson about North Korea's restraint in making provocations. And South Korea will make proactive and leading efforts to have these positive moves lead to a window of opportunity in the near future," Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam later said in a press briefing about the session.

The session also reaffirmed South Korea's determination to find a peaceful resolution to North Korea's nuclear stalemate and prevent a war from taking place on the Korean Peninsula in any case, according to Lim.

South Korea will mobilize both sanctions and dialogue to that end, another senior foreign ministry official Kim Hong-kyun said, unveiling that the government will continue to review the adoption of its own sanctions measures against North Korea.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha emphasized to Moon the need for stepped-up communication with China and Russia, expecting their "constructive" role in dealing with North Korea.

She also underlined the importance of a "watertight" alliance with the U.S. in addressing the North's nuclear problem and pledged to seek a "turning point" in efforts to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"While maintaining watertight coordination with the U.S. on every matter related to the North's nuclear problem, we will make efforts for a peaceful resolution by preventing the North's nuclear and missile provocations and trying to bring it back to denuclearization talks," Kang said during her policy briefing.

"Based on strong coordination with the U.S., we will double our efforts to create an environment for a possible resumption of denuclearization talks ... and strengthen strategic communication with China and Russia to induce their continued constructive role," she added.

Meanwhile, Kang explained her ministry's policy direction on what it calls people's diplomacy aimed at expanding communication with ordinary people and building consensus before pushing for policies.

For that matter, she said that the ministry will strengthen its platform where people can express their opinions on major government policies.

Kang added that the ministry will launch a safety center early next year that will operate around the clock to better protect Korean people living or traveling overseas and more swiftly take the necessary countermeasures.

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