Our starting point this morning,…
We have confirmation that U.S. President Donald Trump will be making his second visit to Seoul in the coming weeks for a summit with President Moon Jae-in.
The main focus of their discussions is expected to be North Korea... and getting the denuclearization process back on track.
Shin Se-min starts us off.
U.S. President Donald Trump will make a stop in Seoul in late June during his trip to Asia for the G20 Summit in Osaka.... as concerns simmer that nuclear talks with North Korea are on the brink of breaking down.
South Korea's top office says Presidents Moon and Trump will likely discuss the nuclear negotiations as well as ways to strengthen their bilateral alliance.
Moments after the Blue House's announcement,... the White House confirmed President Trump's trip to Seoul and said the leaders will "continue their close coordination on efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea.
A spokesperson for South Korea's presidential office added that a detailed schedule -- for what will be their eighth summit -- is still in the works,... an indication that it's still unclear whether Trump will visit Seoul before or after the G20 summit in Japan, a meeting that's scheduled for two days from June 28th.
The announcement of President Trump's visit to Seoul comes after Pyeongyang's recent test firing of missiles and projectiles.
The regime's launching of short range missiles are believed to have violated international restrictions championed by the U.S. President.
North Korea has tested two short-range missiles and fired a series of projectiles this month-- the first such move by North Korea since it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in late 2017.
President Moon said the regime's actions are a way of showing its discontent that the second North Korea-U.S. summit in February ended with no deal.
President Trump too, downplayed the missile tests,... calling the launches "very standard stuff" and said he didn't consider them a "breach of trust."
With President Moon having already proposed another inter-Korean summit, shortly after the Moon-Trump meeting in Washington last month,... President Trump's visit to Seoul could serve as catalyst in bringing about a third North Korea-U.S. summit in the near future, breathing fresh life into the stalled nuclear negotiations.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.