South Korean official leaves for US ahead of Trump-Moon summit

Seoul [South Korea]: A senior official from the South Korean Presidential Office on Saturday left for Washington to of the summit between the two countries scheduled to be held next month.

Yonhap reported that deputy chief of South Korean Presidential Office, Kim Hyun-chong, headed to meet the White House National Security Council and Congressional officials.

United States President Donald Trump will be meeting his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in for a summit on April 11 at the White House, amidst an impasse with North Korea on denuclearisation following the Hanoi summit held last month.

“The trip is aimed at discussing the agenda for the imminent visit to the U.S. by the president,” the South Korean official was quoted as saying.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since last month’s summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi ended abruptly.

The South Korean President had an emergency telephonic conversation with Trump after the US-North Korea summit ended abruptly on February 28 without any joint agreement.

North Korea sought partial relief in sanctions at the summit in Vietnam, according to Pyongyang’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. The US, however, has held on to its stand to ease sanctions only when complete denuclearisation is reached.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]