Moon at S. Korea, Japan, China Summit in Tokyo: Live Phoner
- 6 years ago
President Moon Jae-in begins his day in Tokyo.
He'll be attending the South Korea, Japan, China summit as well as a few other sideline summits.
Our chief Blue House correspondent Moon Connyoung is live on the phone for us.
Connyoung, what can you tell us?
South Korean President Moon Jae-in landed in Tokyo a few minutes past 9 earlier this Wednesday morning and is now joining Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to kick off the 7th South Korea, Japan, China trilateral summit in Tokyo this year.
Of course, among other things, taking center stage will be North Korea but no doubt they will expose differences and the three leaders will be seeking a lowest common denominator agreement in the wake of a historic summit late last month between President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Japan, which has by far the most hardline position of the North's neighbours, has been left watching from the sidelines, uneasy at the pace of events and at what it sees as an unwarranted softening towards Pyongyang.
In announcing the three-way summit, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped to "thoroughly discuss how we can have North Korea walk on a right path, resolve the abduction, missile and nuclear issues and create a bright future."
The historical kidnapping of at least a dozen citizens by North Korean spies remains an emotive issue in Japan.
Abe is likely to push for continued pressure on Pyongyang, including for "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization."
South Korea's Blue House has said Seoul wanted the three countries to simply endorse the Panmunjon Declaration signed by Moon and Kim last month in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas without the CVID clause.
The three leaders will hold a joint news conference following the trilateral summit so we'll find out soon enough.
Following news of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping's yet another surprise meeting in Dalian earlier this week, will there be discussions on that as well?
Well, we would assume so, Mark. Immediately following or as reports were flowing out of China that Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping were meeting in China's northeastern city of Dalian, South Korea's presidential Blue House sent out a late night text message to its press corps saying the Chinese government had informed Seoul of the North Korean leader's two day, one night Dalian visit prior to the visit itself.
Now, when I asked whether there had been any contact from North Korea, none of the senior Blue House officials I spoke to had any answers. But, one of the officials did say that the Blue House did have information on what was discussed between the leaders of Pyongyang and Beijing.
But, with rapidly changing dynamics here in the Northeastern region - especially with the latest development that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in North Korea to fine tune the details of the upcoming Kim, Trump summit and
He'll be attending the South Korea, Japan, China summit as well as a few other sideline summits.
Our chief Blue House correspondent Moon Connyoung is live on the phone for us.
Connyoung, what can you tell us?
South Korean President Moon Jae-in landed in Tokyo a few minutes past 9 earlier this Wednesday morning and is now joining Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to kick off the 7th South Korea, Japan, China trilateral summit in Tokyo this year.
Of course, among other things, taking center stage will be North Korea but no doubt they will expose differences and the three leaders will be seeking a lowest common denominator agreement in the wake of a historic summit late last month between President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Japan, which has by far the most hardline position of the North's neighbours, has been left watching from the sidelines, uneasy at the pace of events and at what it sees as an unwarranted softening towards Pyongyang.
In announcing the three-way summit, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped to "thoroughly discuss how we can have North Korea walk on a right path, resolve the abduction, missile and nuclear issues and create a bright future."
The historical kidnapping of at least a dozen citizens by North Korean spies remains an emotive issue in Japan.
Abe is likely to push for continued pressure on Pyongyang, including for "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization."
South Korea's Blue House has said Seoul wanted the three countries to simply endorse the Panmunjon Declaration signed by Moon and Kim last month in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas without the CVID clause.
The three leaders will hold a joint news conference following the trilateral summit so we'll find out soon enough.
Following news of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping's yet another surprise meeting in Dalian earlier this week, will there be discussions on that as well?
Well, we would assume so, Mark. Immediately following or as reports were flowing out of China that Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping were meeting in China's northeastern city of Dalian, South Korea's presidential Blue House sent out a late night text message to its press corps saying the Chinese government had informed Seoul of the North Korean leader's two day, one night Dalian visit prior to the visit itself.
Now, when I asked whether there had been any contact from North Korea, none of the senior Blue House officials I spoke to had any answers. But, one of the officials did say that the Blue House did have information on what was discussed between the leaders of Pyongyang and Beijing.
But, with rapidly changing dynamics here in the Northeastern region - especially with the latest development that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in North Korea to fine tune the details of the upcoming Kim, Trump summit and