President Moon Jae-in set for key summits with Trump, Xi in critical week

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set for key summits with the leaders of two superpowers during what promises to be a critical week for diplomatic efforts on North Korea. On Tuesday, Moon will meet U.S. President Donald Trump, who kicked off his Asian tour in Japan on Sunday. Trump's first state visit to South Korea comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the surrounding region, brought on by North Korea's nuclear test in September and ballistic missile launches that followed. Moon and Trump are expected to reconfirm the strong alliance between their two nations, while also discussing ways to keep the pressure on North Korea with sanctions and ultimately bring it to the table for denuclearization talks. In this file photo taken Sept. 22, 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a summit at Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York City. (Yonhap) Trump has maintained tough rhetoric on North Korea, which he has previously threatened to "totally destroy." Then upon arriving in Japan, Trump said North Korea was "a big problem" for both the United States and the world, and that he'd like to see it solved. He also defended his strong stance on North Korea, telling the cheering U.S. troops, "No one, no dictator, no regime and no nation should underestimate American resolve." Moon, on the other hand, has called for a dual-track approach that stresses both pressure and dialogue to resolve North Korea problems. Free trade between Seoul and Washington will also be discussed during the summit. Trump said on his way to Japan that much of his talks with Asian leaders will revolve around trade. South Korea and the U.S. started talks last month as the U.S. demanded improvement of the deal to address its deficits in bilateral trade since the pact took effect in 2012. Moon will then travel to Vietnam for the Nov. 10-11 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and he'll meet Chinese Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the regional meeting. It's their first summit since they spoke at the Group of 20 summit in Germany in July, and it also comes only days after the two nations agreed last Tuesday to improve relations. The ties between the neighbors remained strained over the past year or so following Seoul's announcement in July last year that it would bring in the U.S. missile interceptor Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the system's actual deployment this year. The Moon-Xi summit is expected to speed up the thawing of the relations between the countries that became mutually recognized diplomatic partners in 1992. They proclaimed a "strategic cooperative partnership" in 2008, and China is South Korea's biggest trading partner today. Trump and Xi will also have their own summit, following Trump's visit to Seoul. Both Moon and Trump are expected to seek China's commitment to exert more pressure on North Korea. (END)