Minister expects 'meaningful' outcome from this week's S. Korea-U.S. summit

JAKARTA, April 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to produce a "meaningful" outcome on North Korea's denuclearization process when they hold talks in Washington later this week, Seoul's top diplomat said Monday.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha made the remark to reporters after attending an event involving youth in Jakarta, pointing out that the denuclearization process, now apparently troubled, has been driven by summit diplomacy.

She's on a visit here to attend the third foreign ministerial joint committee session with Indonesia.

"Anyway, (we) have come to this point through South Korea-U.S. coordination," she said when asked about the possibility of a summit compromise on the next steps toward North Korea.

She noted that it has followed a so-called top-down formula.

Moon is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday (local time).

It will be their first face-to-face talks since the collapse of Trump's second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi in late February.

Moon is seeking to facilitate dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. His upcoming summit with Trump will apparently prove to be a watershed in the initiative.

The minister said, "As the presidents meet each other for another dialogue momentum, I expect a meaningful result to come out." She did not elaborate.

lcd@yna.co.kr
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