S Korea's Moon may join Trump, Kim for 3-way talks in Singapore

Seoul

SOUTH Korean President Moon Jae In could make a trip to Singapore for a three-way summit with his US and North Korean counterparts next month, depending on the outcome of ongoing discussions between Washington and Pyongyang, Yonhap News Agency quoted a South Korean government official as saying on Monday.

The trip, if it in confirmed, would likely be made around June 12 when US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are scheduled to meet for the first time, the official from Seoul's presidential office, the Blue House, said.

"The discussions are just getting started, so we are still waiting to see how they pan out, but depending on the outcome, the President could join President Trump and Chairman Kim in Singapore," the official told Yonhap, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A three-way summit was originally proposed by Mr Moon and the North Korean leader when they held their first-ever meeting at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27.

Mr Moon again expressed hope to hold such a meeting on Sunday, one day after he held his second meeting with Mr Kim. "Should the North Korea-US summit succeed, I would like to see efforts to formally end the (Korean) war through a three-way summit of the South, the North and the US," he told a press briefing.

The Presidential Blue House earlier said the South Korean government was already studying the possibility of a three-way summit following a successful US-North Korea meeting but that nothing had been decided or even discussed between the countries.

The official speaking to Yonhap noted a three-way summit in Singapore would largely depend on the outcome of ongoing pre-summit talks between the US and North Korea, suggesting Mr Moon's Singapore trip will most likely be decided before the US-North Korea summit even begins.

The three-way summit, if held, will likely be aimed at providing a security guarantee for North Korea in exchange for its denuclearisation, Yonhap said.

There have also been speculations that Mr Moon may visit Singapore around June 12 to declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, according to China's Xinhua news agency. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war with an armistice agreement.