02 March 2018•Update: 02 March 2018
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
South Korean President Moon Jae-in "plans" to dispatch a special envoy to North Korea in the wake of the reclusive state's invitation for Moon to visit Pyongyang in person.
Moon relayed his intention to American President Donald Trump during a phone conversation late Thursday, according to Seoul's presidential office.
"The two leaders agreed to continue their efforts to maintain the momentum for South-North dialogue so it may lead to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Moon's office said in a statement carried by the local news agency Yonhap.
The plan to send a South Korean envoy to Pyongyang comes after the North suggested it is ready to arrange a third ever inter-Korean summit.
Moon was personally invited to visit North Korea by the leader Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong, who met the South Korean president last month during the Winter Olympics.
Political opinion is divided in the South over how to deal with Pyongyang, which remains committed to its rogue development of nuclear weapons despite global sanctions.
Seoul has been calling for talks between the U.S. and North Korea to pave the way for inter-Korean cooperation, as the South has been keen to demonstrate the strength of its alliance with Washington.
It is not clear when or if the U.S. will hold any form of dialogue with the North -- Vice President Mike Pence's office recently claimed Pyongyang canceled a meeting between Pence and Kim Yo-jong while the pair were in South Korea together for the Winter Games. The North was reportedly unhappy with Pence's insistence on mentioning nuclear weapons and human rights.
