SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he was told by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he wants the U.S. secretary of state to come to Pyongyang for nuclear talks. Kim also wants a second summit with President Donald Trump as soon as possible.
Moon was briefing reporters Thursday after returning to Seoul after a three-day summit in Pyongyang with the North Korean leader.
Moon says he will carry a private message from Kim for Trump when he meets the U.S. president in New York next week at a U.N. meeting.
Moon also says he’ll convey to Trump his and Kim’s desire to get a declaration ending the Korean War by the end of this year. The 1950-53 war still technically continues because it ended with a cease-fire not a peace treaty.
Such a declaration would be the first step toward a formal peace treaty, but the U.S. is worried that it could result in Kim pushing for the removal of U.S. troops from South Korea.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in, right, and first lady Kim Jung-sook leave for Seoul at Samjiyon airport in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, and first lady Kim Jung-sook bow as they leave for Seoul at the Samjiyon airport in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in puts water from the crater lake into a bottle on Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, and his wife Kim Jung-sook, second from right, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, and his wife Ri Sol Ju ride a cable car to Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. The two Korean leaders took to the road for the final day of their summit Thursday, heading to a beautiful volcano considered sacred in the North and used in its propaganda to legitimize the Kims’ three generations of rule. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, front right right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visit Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. The two Korean leaders took to the road for the final day of their summit Thursday, heading to a beautiful volcano considered sacred in the North and used in its propaganda to legitimize the Kims’ three generations of rule. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, second from right, stands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, and his wife Ri Sol Ju, left, on the Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, second from left, and his wife Kim Jung-sook, second from right, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and his wife Ri Sol Ju, right, visit Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, front right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visit Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. The two Korean leaders took to the road for the final day of their summit Thursday, heading to a beautiful volcano considered sacred in the North and used in its propaganda to legitimize the Kims’ three generations of rule. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)