The leaders of North and South Korea will hold a three-day summit this week to break the deadlock in the talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme — but the ultimate audience will be in Washington.
South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet in Pyongyang on Tuesday to prepare the ground for a meeting between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump, whose previous summit with the youthful dictator has been criticised as lacking substance.
While Mr Moon will be urging the North Korean leader to do more to demonstrate that Pyongyang is serious about junking its nuclear weapons capacity, Mr Kim is increasing pressure on Seoul to increase economic co-operation with his impoverished state.