South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on the U.S. and North Korea to resume denuclearization talks after the much-anticipated second summit between the two leaders fell apart last week with no deal or substantial progress made. Moon called for three-way talks between the two Koreas and the U.S. This is Moon speaking in Seoul Monday.
President Moon Jae-in: “I ask you to find ways to improve the dialogue between North Korea and the United States through the development of inter-Korean relations within the framework of sanctions.”
On Sunday, President Trump appeared to shift blame for the failure of last week’s talks in Vietnam, suggesting he walked away from the summit because of former lawyer Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony. Last week, Trump said that he left the talks because North Korea insisted on complete sanctions relief before moving ahead with denuclearization—something North Korean officials refuted. On Sunday, Trump tweeted, “For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the ’walk.’ Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!”