PRESIDENT BACK IN KOREA

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in, back in Korea after his visit to Europe, visited the home of the late former first lady Lee Hee-ho to comfort her family. He took a leave today, but he spent most of the day checking major pending issues and devising ways to arrange another inter-Korean summit, before his sit-down with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of this month.

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After returning from his 8-day visit to Northern Europe, President Moon Jae-in headed straight to Donggyo-dong instead of his Cheong Wa Dae residence. He was there to comfort the family of the late former first lady Lee Hee-ho, who had passed away while he was abroad.

[Soundbite] PRES. MOON JAE-IN : "I can't think of any word of comfort for losing such an important figure."

[Soundbite] KIM HONG-UP(LEE'S SECOND SON) : "Thanks to your support, we were able to send her off with care."

Moon remembered the former first lady for always standing by her husband, President Kim Dae-jung, who had opened the history of peace on the peninsula. At two of his addresses during his recent visit to Europe, President Moon presented his idea for peace on the Peninsula following the North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi. Since her death has brought together the highest-ranking officials of the two Koreas, all eyes are now on whether cross-border dialogue would resume. Meanwhile, discussions are underway to find ways to preserve the condolences wreath from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. An official of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center said, given the symbolism of the wreath, the real flowers are likely to undergo special processing for long-term preservation. North Korea still hasn't given an official reply to President Moon's repeated proposal for another inter-Korean summit made during his European visit. He took a leave today, but he spent the day checking up on major pending issues and coming up with ways to arrange another inter-Korean summit before his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of this month. It remains to be seen what kind of solution he would provide to break through the increasingly vexing political stalemate.