S. Korea to deliver DPRK leader’s message to U.S. in exchange for Trump’s message

SEOUL, SEPT. 6 — South Korea’s presidential Blue House said Thursday that it will deliver the message from Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), to the U.S. side in exchange for U.S. President Donald Trump’s message to the DPRK leader.
Presidential spokesman Kim Eui-keum told a press briefing that Chung Eui-yong, a top national security adviser for President Moon Jae-in, planned to have a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart John Bolton later in the day to explain the outcome of his visit to Pyongyang.
During the phone conversation, Chung would convey the DPRK leader’s message to the U.S. side, said the Blue House spokesman without elaborating on what the message would be.
Chung and four other delegates met with the DPRK leader Kim during their one-day visit to Pyongyang on Wednesday.
During the meeting, Kim reconfirmed his firm commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, expressing his willingness to closely cooperate with the United States as well as South Korea for the denuclearization.
According to the Blue House, Trump had asked Moon during their phone talks on Tuesday night to let Moon’s special envoys convey his message to the DPRK leader. What message Trump had asked to deliver was not known yet.
The Blue House spokesman said Trump also asked Moon over the phone to play a role of “chief negotiator” to mediate between Washington and Pyongyang.
The spokesman stressed that the DPRK leader expressed his resolve to realize the denuclearization within President Trump’s tenure, indicating the denuclearization timetable Pyongyang suggested.
He noted that the complete denuclearization included the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice and left the peninsula divided, and a peace treaty among relevant parties. – XINHUA