(3rd LD) Moon calls for progress in talks with N. Korean leader

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES with reports of the summit, more information, minor changes in paras 2-15; ADDS photo)
By Byun Duk-kun

SEOUL/PYONGYANG, Sept. 18 (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for efforts to produce progress in his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, noting the world was watching the historic inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang.

"On the one hand, I feel the great weight we must bear, along with a heavy responsibility," Moon said at the start of his bilateral talks with Kim.

"I wish this will be a summit that produces abundant results as a gift to the 80 million people of this nation for Chuseok," the South Korean president added, referring to the upcoming traditional holiday that falls on Monday. "The entire world is also watching, so (I) hope we will show the fruits of peace and prosperity to all people in the world."

The Moon-Kim summit began at 3:45 p.m. at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

Moon arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day for a three-day visit, becoming the third South Korean leader in history to have visited the North Korean capital.

Yoon Young-chan, the senior secretary to President Moon for public relations, noted it marked the first time the North Korean leader had hosted any foreign leader at the office of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party.

Tuesday's summit marked the third of its kind since Moon took office in May 2017.

Kim said he now felt "very close" to the South Korean president, also thanking Moon for what he called a great result.

"North-South relations, North-U.S. relations have improved. President Moon helped find the start of the historic North Korea-U.S. talks," he added.

Kim met with President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12. The first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit followed two Moon-Kim summits held in the border village of Panmunjom on April 27 and May 26.

Tuesday's meeting also included Moon's top security adviser Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, both of whom visited Pyongyang earlier in the month to arrange Moon's trip.

On the North Korean side sat Kim Yong-chol, a senior official of the Workers' Party who is also the North's point man on South Korea, and the North Korean leader's younger sister, Yo-jong, who is also a senior member of the Central Committee of the North's ruling party.

The meeting ended at 5:45 p.m., according to Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

Moon's trip to North Korea follows a recent dispute in U.S.-North Korea talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

The South Korean president has said the main objective of his trip is to help restart the denuclearization talks.

"(My) North Korea trip would have a great meaning if it could lead to the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue," Moon was quoted as saying before heading to Pyongyang earlier in the day.

The U.S.-North Korea talks have stalled after U.S. President Donald Trump called off a scheduled trip to North Korea by his top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing what he called a lack of progress in the North's denuclearization process.

The North Korean leader has argued his country has taken many significant and irreversible measures that left the country unable to stage any more nuclear or missile tests.

The South Korean president earlier stressed the need to find an intersecting point between the two.

Also on the agenda are further reduction of military tension between the divided Koreas and improvement in their bilateral relations, which Moon says will help promote and even accelerate the North's denuclearization process.

More than a dozen top South Korean business leaders are accompanying the president.

According to officials from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, they will likely offer a glimpse of the economic cooperation and assistance for a denuclearized North Korea that Seoul could provide.

No new economic cooperation projects will be offered to the North during Moon's three-day trip to Pyongyang, Yoon told a press briefing in Seoul.

Moon was set to attend a welcome dinner later Tuesday that could possibly be hosted by the North Korean leader.

He and Kim will meet again early Wednesday for a second round of talks.

Depending on the outcome of their talks, the two leaders may hold a joint press conference in Pyongyang to announce the outcome of their summit, Cheong Wa Dae officials have said.

Moon will return home Thursday.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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