Moon, Putin vow joint efforts to denuclearize N. Korea, boost economic ties

SEOUL/MOSCOW, June 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday reaffirmed their joint efforts to peacefully denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, also vowing efforts to expand the countries' economic cooperation.

"We two leaders have closely cooperated while sharing the common goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of permanent peace," President Moon said in a bilateral summit with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.

The South Korean leader arrived in the Russian capital on Thursday for a three-day state visit that earlier included a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The Moon-Putin summit, the third of its kind, also came one day after Moon addressed the lower house of the Russian parliament, becoming the first South Korean leader to do so in history, according to his office Cheong Wa Dae.

"I expressed my deep gratitude in that Russia has actively supported the progress in conditions on the Korean Peninsula such as the successful South-North Korea summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit," Moon told Putin at the start of their private talks at the Kremlin, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.

"I will continue to closely consult with the Russian government and work with it to completely and swiftly implement the outcome of the South-North Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit," Moon added.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in two inter-Korean summits with Moon held on April 27 and May 26. He again affirmed his commitment to denuclearization in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump held in Singapore last week.

Putin vowed to continue supporting the denuclearization process, saying he and his country have always supported dialogue between the leaders of the two Koreas, the pool reports said.

Both Moon and Putin stressed the importance of cooperation between their countries.

"I believe South Korea and Russia are key cooperation partners on the Korean Peninsula and the Eurasian continent and therefore place great importance on strategic cooperation with Russia as an important part of our government's foreign and security policies," Moon was quoted as saying.

Putin expressed hope for increased economic cooperation, noting the countries' bilateral trade volume has reached nearly US$20 billion but has room for further growth.

The leaders were set to be joined by other members of their governments for an expanded summit.

Moon earlier said he and his Russian counterpart planned to reach an agreement on efforts to launch negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement for the service and investment sectors.

The leaders were scheduled to hold a joint press conference to explain the outcome of their bilateral summit, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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