Diplomatic Agendas

[Anchor Lead]

During the in-flight press briefing, President Moon Jae-in also said that Seoul and Washington have agreed to discuss the timetable, for denuclearization and reciprocal measures at the second North Korea- U.S. summit. When asked about domestic issues and economic conditions, he declined to answer and said that he will focus only on diplomatic agendas.

[Pkg]

President Moon Jae-in said that the second summit between the United States and North Korea will be a turning point for the denuclearization process and projected that the two sides will focus their discussions on how to implement the agreement reached in Singapore. The two sides will talk about Pyongyang's denuclearization and the United States' security guarantee plans, which means that they will focus on when and how reciprocal measures will be put in place.

[Soundbite] Moon Jae-in(President) : "Seoul and Washington have agreed that it's necessary to talk about a bigger timetable on those issues at the 2nd U.S.-N. Korea summit."

He added that sanctions removal is not the only reciprocal measure on the table and cited other on-going efforts such as deferment of joint military drills, humanitarian aid, and exchanges in sporting events. President Moon pointed out that there was absolutely no discord between Seoul and Washington on the matter of denuclearization talks. He said that any question raised about this issue is nothing but baseless speculation. He then added that the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been progressing very positively and will eventually produce optimistic results. Meanwhile, before starting his in-flight briefing, the president asked to limit journalists' questions to diplomatic issues in contrast to what was agreed to previously.

[Soundbite] Moon Jae-in(President) : "I don't know what was promised before but I won't take questions about domestic issues. But when you ask about diplomatic issues, I will answer within the best of my knowledge."

The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae stated that questions about domestic affairs will be answered naturally when he returns from his visit to New Zealand and personally deals with domestic issues.