U.S. President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in committed over phone Thursday to keep close coordination on recent development of Korean Peninsula and push for denuclearization.
According to a White House statement, Trump congratulated Moon on the successful conclusion of 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and thanked Moon for his hospitality to the U.S. presidential delegations to the opening and closing ceremonies led by Vice President Mike Pence and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump respectively.
For his part, Moon briefed Trump on developments regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and recent inter-Korean talks.
Trump and Moon noted their firm position that any dialogue with the DPRK "must be conducted with the explicit and unwavering goal of complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization," the statement said.
South Korea's presidential Blue House said earlier on Sunday that DPRK's high-ranking delegation showed Pyongyang's willingness to talk with the United States.
Later on the day, the White House responded that the United States, South Korea and the international community broadly agreed that denuclearization must be the result of dialogue with the DPRK.
Washington has been pushing forward its "maximum pressure" campaign against Pyongyang. Last week, Trump rolled out what he called the "heaviest" sanctions against the nation, targeting 56 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses despite signs of a growing rapprochement on the peninsula.
However, Trump also said on Monday that the United States will talk with the DPRK under appropriate conditions. Explaining Trump's remarks in a press briefing on the following day, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said "our condition is denuclearization" and the U.S. policy remains to be "maximum pressure."
