President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation for denuclearization of North Korea, during their phone call, Friday. / Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

Seoul, Tokyo and Washington need to strengthen cooperation so that North Korea's statements on denuclearization will develop into concrete action, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in a telephone conversation, Friday.

They had the phone talk ahead of inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang summits over denuclearization of the North, slated for April and May, respectively. Japan has apparently raised concern that it may be sidelined over the North Korea nuclear issue.

"Moon told Abe that peace on the Korean Peninsula will not be achieved only through a summit between the two Koreas," presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said. "He said North Korea needs to improve relations not only with the U.S. but also Japan, for progress in inter-Korean relations."

Abe delivered the expectation of a possible summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as an extension of Pyongyang's talks with Seoul and Washington, according to the spokesman.

"The two leaders agreed on cooperation to resolve issues surrounding North Korea and Japan, including Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea."

Moon and Abe also agreed to hold a trilateral summit with China as soon as possible, and to seek separate South Korea-Japan bilateral talks as well with Moon visiting Tokyo. Cheong Wa Dae said it has not been decided whether the trilateral summit or the bilateral talks will be held first.

This was the 10th phone conversation between the two leaders since Moon's inauguration in May. They had their last bilateral talks Feb. 9 when Abe came to the South for the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Gov't gearing up for inter-Korean summit

Presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, left, presides over an inter-Korean summit preparation committee's first meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday. The committee, launched a day earlier, is set to make contact with Pyongyang as early as next week about the summit, which is slated for late April. / Yonhap

Meanwhile, South Korea will seek a high-level meeting with the North at the end of this month to prepare for the inter-Korean summit in late April. It will propose the plan to Pyongyang soon, the summit preparation committee said after its first meeting earlier in the day.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will likely lead the South Korean delegation for the high-level meeting, a Cheong Wa Dae official said.

The committee stated it would push for talks between Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump before the latter's meeting with Kim Jong-un in May, to brief Washington about the inter-Korean summit, and also to play a mediating role.

In addition, the committee decided to hold performances by a South Korean art troupe and a taekwondo demonstration team in Pyongyang in early April, as agreed earlier in talks between the North Korean leader and South Korea's envoys. Working-level talks for the performances will take place at Panmunjeom early next week.

The preparation committee members said the inter-Korean summit would probably be held for one day, reflecting the venue ― the Peace House on the South side of the truce village of Panmunjeom, which does not have accommodation.

If the summit needs to be extended, the leaders will likely leave Panmunjeom after the meetings end, and return the next day.

The previous summits in 2000 and 2007 were each held over three days in Pyongyang.

The upcoming inter-Korean summit is set to focus on security issues, mainly denuclearizing North Korea, rather than discussing various other issues, including economic cooperation, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

"Denuclearization and permanent peace on the peninsula will be the main agenda items, because resolving the issues will lead to solutions of other issues in inter-Korean relations," a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.

"The upcoming inter-Korean summit will play the role of inducing progress in the following Washington-Pyongyang talks," the official said.

The summit preparation committee is led by presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok and unification minister Cho. It includes National Security Office (NSO) chief Chung Eui-yong, presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Suh Hoon and Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Hong Nam-ki.

Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, presidential chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan and NIS senior director Kim Sang-gyun will each lead three subcommittees that will be in charge of developing the agenda for the summit, promoting the meeting and arranging logistics.

Cheong Wa Dae considered including Strategy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, but concluded that the nuclear issue needed to be discussed first.

Inter-Korean economic cooperation will likely be discussed later, because Pyongyang is under multiple economic sanctions, which are only likely to be eased if there is progress in dismantling the North's nuclear program.

The preparatory body for the 2007 summit was larger than the current committee, and included economy sector officials because inter-Korean economic cooperation was on the agenda at the time.

Working-level officials of the North and South will soon make contact to discuss the detailed arrangements for the summit. Their meetings may begin next week at the earliest. They will decide on the date of the summit, participants and arrange security and transport.

The officials will also discuss setting up a hotline between Moon and Kim, which was agreed to along with the hosting of the summit, during Kim's meeting with South Korean envoys in Pyongyang last week.

The upcoming summit will be the third of its kind. At the first summit in 2000, President Kim Dae-jung met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the current leader's father. At the second in 2007, President Roh Moo-hyun met Kim.