Moon to emphasize inter-Korean peace during tour of Northern Europe

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook at Seoul Air Base before their departure for Northern Europe on June 8.

S. Korean president to deliver keynote address at University of Oslo

While touring the countries of Northern Europe from June 9 to 16, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be delivering the keynote address at a forum at the University of Oslo. The topic of his address will be peace on the Korean Peninsula.

“In his address, President Moon will be expressing his gratitude to the countries of Northern Europe for their support for the Korean Peninsula peace process and explaining our journey toward establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,” said a senior official at the Blue House during a meeting with reporters on June 7.

Moon’s address might also contain a specific message to North Korea aimed at overcoming the standoff between North Korea and the US, which has lasted since talks broke down during their second summit in Hanoi this past February. Moon will be visiting Norway from June 11 to 13.

Oslo University in Norway

Prior to arriving in Norway, Moon is visiting Finland, the first stop on his tour, from June 9 to 11. While in Finland, Moon is meeting with Antti Rinne, Finland’s newly elected prime minister, and will also be attending a bilateral start-up summit.

Moon will wrap up his tour with a visit to Sweden from June 13 to 15. While in Sweden, Moon will attend a state luncheon and dinner hosted by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and share opinions about Sweden’s experience with establishing inclusive labor relations.

“The themes of this tour are peace, innovation, and inclusiveness,” the Blue House official said.

When asked whether an inter-Korean summit could be held before the South Korea-US summit at the end of June, the official said that Seoul is “hard at work and still trying to make contact with North Korea.”

The official also said that “we’re cautiously optimistic that there will be positive results.” But those remarks were corrected in a subsequent text message sent to reporters by Senior Secretary to the President for Public Communication Yoon Do-han. “The remark about being ‘cautiously optimistic’ was a general remark about the overall situation. That doesn’t mean an inter-Korean summit will be held in June,” Yoon said.

The Blue House also confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be visiting South Korea around the time of the G20 summit, which will be held in Osaka on June 28–29.

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

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