문 대통령 "지소미아 종료 피할 수 있다면 끝까지 노력"
President Moon Jae-in held an unscripted townhall meeting with South Korean citizens on Tuesday night as he marked the start of the second half of his five-year presidential term.
He explained his thought process on some key issues,... including South Korea's relations with Japan and North Korea.
Park Hee-jun has the details.
President Moon says the South Korean government will continue working hard until the very end if there can be an alternative to scrapping Seoul's military intel-sharing pact with Japan,... which is set to expire on Saturday.
His remarks on the GSOMIA pact came on Tuesday evening during his live televised townhall meeting with 300 pre-selected Korean citizens.
While blaming Japan for initiating the row,... he acknowledged the importance of security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo.
"The South Korea-U.S. alliance is the pillar of our national security, but tripartite security cooperation with Japan is also important. We aim to keep working with Japan. Even if GSOMIA is terminated, we will continue coordination on that front."
On North Korea,... President Moon says efforts for a third North Korea-U.S. summit are already in the works.
"I believe efforts are being made by North Korea and the U.S. through working-level talks for their third summit this year. When that happens, I think there will definitely be progress and that will leave room for better inter-Korean relations."
President Moon emphasized the need to make the most out of the dialogue phase on the Korean Peninsula.
He also said domestic firms participating in the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex and Mount Geumgang tours can recover their damage,.. once the two sides are past this uncomfortable stage.
As for inter-Korean cooperation on railways and roads, he said a considerable amount of the groundwork has been completed,... but further progress depends on denuclearization and easing sanctions on the regime.
And according to the president, preparations are still happening behind the scenes.
The townhall session came just after President Moon entered the second half of his five-year presidency.
Admitting there have been shortcomings in his policies,... he promised that he will work harder to produce concrete achievements that can be felt by the people over the remainder of his time in office.
"Beginning with the townhall meeting,... President Moon hopes to engage with the public more actively throughout the second half of his presidency. And having listened to their voices,... he'll try to reflect their views in his policies, working toward a more integrated nation. Park Hee-jun, Arirang News."
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