By Sohn JiAe
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in on June 26 invited former Korean ambassadors to the U.S. to the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae to seek their advice ahead of his first summit with the U.S. this week in Washington D.C.

“At the upcoming summit, I will focus on building friendship and trust with President Donald Trump instead of only trying to draw outcomes on certain issues,” President Moon said. “Based on this, we will solidify our alliance and also talk about ways to jointly deal with North Korean issues.”

“As you have had lots of friendly relations with American diplomats as former Korean ambassadors to the U.S., I hope you will send messages to the diplomats for me and the government whenever you can.”



In response, the former ambassadors said the itinerary of President Moon's visit to the U.S. seems well thought out in a way that represents a solid Korea-U.S. alliance, adding that both leaders should try to strengthen the foundation of mutual cooperation by stressing the significance and importance of the bilateral alliance instead of just talking about pending issues.

They added that they hope for a consensus between both presidents on major issues of mutual interest such as resolving North Korea's nuclear program, and for more cooperation with other countries to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.

jiae5853@korea.kr