Speculations are rising over possible summit meetings between President Moon Jae-in, and the leaders of China, the US and Japan in the run-up to the inter-Korean summit, and Pyongyang-Washington summit.

Moon’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled for some time at the end of April, which is set to be followed by a historic meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump. 

While Seoul has no direct involvement in the latter, speculations are rising that Moon could meet Trump at some point after the inter-Korean summit, or the US-North Korea meeting.

The speculation was fed by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon’s recent comment about the possibility.

Speaking at a meeting with overseas Koreans in Spain, Lee said that Moon could meet Trump after his meeting with Kim to convey his “experience and assessments from the inter-Korean summit” to the US leader in person.

While Cheong Wa Dae downplayed the comment as speculation on Lee’s part, high-level officials have since voiced support for the idea, but such a meeting would depend on the time of US-North Korea talks.

“The priority is on the date of the US-North Korea summit, and then there are issues of whether a Korea-US summit could be arranged before that, and the scheduling of Korea-Japan or Korea-China-Japan summits,” a high-level presidential staff said Sunday, adding that Trump meeting Moon before his talks with Kim would be a positive development.

The possibility of a trilateral summit among Moon, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rose after the South Korean leader’s telephone conversation with Abe on Friday.

Following the conversation, Moon’s spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom revealed that the two leaders agreed to hold a trilateral summit “early as possible.”

While speculations about possible bilateral and trilateral summit meetings rise, Cheong Wa Dae is focusing on the inter-Korean summit for the time being.

Cheong Wa Dae’s position that the upcoming inter-Korean summit will focus on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was reiterated by Moon’s chief of staff Im Jong-seok on Friday.

“The inter-Korean summit needs to be a turning point for fundamentally resolving (problems with) peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Im, who heads the inter-Korean summit preparation committee, said Friday.

“(The committee) will focus on agenda for establishing lasting peace, and fresh and bold steps in inter-Korean relations including denuclearization and groundbreaking (measures) for reducing military tension.”

The Moon administration, which is playing the self-appointed role of “matchmaker” between Pyongyang and Washington, has been scrambling to rally support from neighboring nations over recent developments on the Korean Peninsula.

After plans for the inter-Korean summit were announced on March 6, Moon dispatched National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, and National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon to the US, China, Japan and Russia to brief their leaders on the developments.

Chung and Suh, who were among Moon’s special delegation to Pyongyang, first met with Trump on March 9, when the US leader expressed willingness to meet with Kim.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)