SEOUL, May 26 (UPI) — Conservative South Korean presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo would ”proactively support” a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if elected, a key policy adviser said Monday.
Kim Hyung-suk, co-chair of the Unification and Foreign Affairs Committee of the candidate’s People Power Party, made the remark during a briefing with foreign media in downtown Seoul. South Korea’s presidential election will be held on June 3, with Kim trailing liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party in polls.
“If Mr. Trump seeks to re-engage with Kim Jong Un on talks of denuclearization [and] addressing peace and prosperity issues on the Korean Peninsula … [Kim Moon-soo] will proactively support the communication between the two,” Kim said.
“We [would] respect and highly approve of their communications,” he added.
The White House has not prioritized North Korea in its foreign policy agenda since Trump returned to office, but there has been speculation that the president may look to revive nuclear negotiations with Kim Jong Un.
During Trump’s first term, the two leaders held a pair of high-profile summits and met briefly a third time at the DMZ. The diplomatic outreach failed to result in a nuclear deal, however, and Pyongyang has accelerated the development of its weapons programs in the intervening years.
At the beginning of April, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that there has been communication with North Korea and that the two sides would “probably do something at some point.”
“I have a very good relationship with [Kim],” Trump said. “I think it’s very important. He’s a big nuclear nation and he’s a very smart guy.”
Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated dramatically in recent years, with Pyongyang officially designating the South a “hostile state” in a 2024 constitutional revision.
On Monday, Kim Hyung-suk said that a Kim Moon-soo administration would aim to “normalize inter-Korean relations” while maintaining Washington and Seoul’s longtime stance calling for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
“The Kim Moon-soo administration will consistently strive for a phased and actionable solution for the complete denuclearization of North Korea in close cooperation with the Trump administration,” he said.
The policy adviser added that Kim is eager to engage with North Korea and is making outreach plans with or without involvement from the Trump administration.
“As we know, President Trump is very busy these days due to a long list of different engagements internationally,” Kim said. “I don’t think we can wait years and years for the two to meet. In order to bring North Korea to the table, we are going to actively pursue communication, whether it be three-party or two-party.”
Kim’s opponent in the election, Lee Jae-myung, also voiced his support for engaging with North Korea while on the campaign trail Monday, but called the prospect of his own summit with Kim Jong Un “very difficult.”
Lee announced a campaign pledge on Monday to improve inter-Korean communications, including restoring a military hotline that North Korea has not responded to since 2023, but said that a face-to-face meeting with Kim would pose a challenge.
“It is something that should obviously be done, but I am not sure if it would be possible,” he told reporters at Ajou University in Suwon, south of Seoul. “It would be very difficult in the current situation.”
