Trump to visit S Korea for talks on North\'s nukes: White House

Trump to visit S Korea for talks on North's nukes: White House

AFP  |  Washington 

will visit South in June to meet with his counterpart over their efforts to persuade North to scrap its nuclear weapons arsenal, the has said.

"Trump and Moon will continue their close coordination on efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the said in a statement on Wednesday, using North Korea's official name.

The dovish South Korean president, who has long backed engagement with the nuclear-armed North, brokered the talks process between Trump and Kim, which led to their first landmark summit in last June.

But security allies and have at times appeared to diverge on their approach to Pyongyang, and Seoul's simultaneous announcement of the visit was noticeably different in its phrasing.

A statement issued by the South's presidential office said the two leaders will discuss "establishing a lasting peace regime through the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- rather than the North specifically.

The "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" was the term used in the joint statement signed by Kim and Trump after their first summit in

But it is a phrase open to wide interpretation, and the process has become bogged down as the two sides disagree over what it means.

In the past, has argued it must include the removal of Washington's nuclear umbrella over the South and the 28,500 US troops stationed in the country.

When US visited the North's traditional ally this week, Moscow's veteran told him: "The leadership of DPRK expects certain guarantees of security of their country reciprocated by denuclearization, and that denuclearization should be expanded over the whole of the "

The said Trump's trip to South would combine with his visit to nearby Japan, where he will attend a summit in on June 28-29.

The summit between Trump and Kim broke up after the pair failed to agree on what would be willing to give up in exchange for relief from sanctions imposed over its nuclear and missile programmes.

Since then, Moon has tried to salvage diplomacy between the two mercurial leaders and flew to last month for a brief meeting with Trump.

His attempts have so far proved futile, with raising the pressure earlier this month week by launching short-range missiles in its first such test since November 2017.

has repeatedly warned that it could take a different approach if did not change its stance on sanctions by the end of this year.

In a move that could further stoke tensions, the US announced the seizure of a North Korean cargo ship for violating international sanctions, which was slammed by Pyongyang as an "unlawful and outrageous act".

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

First Published: Thu, May 16 2019. 11:31 IST