N Korea should take \'bold\' steps towards denuclearisation: S Korea\'s Moon

N Korea should take 'bold' steps towards denuclearisation: S Korea's Moon

AFP  |  Seoul 

needs to take "more bold, practical measures for denuclearisation" to ensure sanctions are lifted, the South's said Thursday with negotiations stalling between and

"Corresponding measures must be devised in order to facilitate North Korea's continued denuclearisation efforts," he added, such as the US agreeing a "peace regime" and formally declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

The North has repeatedly pledged to work towards "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", a vague term that could be taken to also include US forces in the South and in the wider region.

Moon acknowledged that the agreement North Korean leader and US signed at their first summit in was "somewhat vague".

He also said there was "scepticism" that Kim's "concept of denuclearisation" will be different from that demanded by the US.

"But Kim has assured many foreign leaders, including myself, Trump, and Putin, that his concept is no different in any way from what the international community demands," Moon told reporters at the

"Kim also stated that denuclearisation and the issue of ending the war has nothing to do with the status of US troops in South Korea," he added.

"understands that the issue is entirely up to the decision of and the "

US strategic assets in the region involved not only North Korea, "but also overall stability and peace in Northeast Asia", Moon said.

"I don't think it will be discussed in North-US nuclear talks."

The North Korean leader's trip to this week was a sign a second Trump-Kim summit was "imminent", he added.

"I think Un's visit to will have a very positive effect on the success of the second US-summit," he told the press conference.

A second summit should produce an agreement that was "more clear on actions by each side", he added.

Moon has actively pursued engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table, a stance that has at times seen and take increasingly divergent approaches.

Conditions for resuming two key economic projects between North and -- the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where Southern companies used to employ North Korean workers, and Southern tourism to in the North "have essentially been met already", he said.

But many analysts say that restarting the schemes would at present violate sanctions imposed on the North over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

would cooperate with the US and international community to seek to "resolve" the issue of sanctions "as soon as possible", Moon said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, January 10 2019. 08:50 IST