South’s Moon calls for ‘bold decisions’

SEOUL — As President Trump considers a second summit with Kim Jong Un, President Moon Jae In of South Korea called Tuesday for both leaders to make “bold decisions” that will keep the process of North Korean denuclearization moving forward.

The White House revealed this week that Trump had received a letter from Kim, the North Korean leader, asking for a second meeting to follow up on their summit in June. It was Kim’s fourth letter to Trump this year, as the two leaders appeared to cultivate personal ties unthinkable last year, when they exchanged personal insults and nuclear threats.

The White House said it was already looking at scheduling a second summit.

“It was a very warm, very positive letter,” said Trump’s press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to and are already in the process of coordinating.”

The news was an encouraging signal for Moon, who has called on Trump and Kim to resuscitate the stalled dialogue between their governments. Moon and many South Koreans hope that Trump and Kim will use their personal chemistry to end the North’s nuclear weapons program and bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula.

“If we are to move up to a higher level and realize the dismantlement of the nuclear assets owned by North Korea, it requires big ideas and bold decisions from the leaders of the North and the United States,” Moon said Tuesday.