At Cheong Wa Dae today, President Moon Jae-in met with Advisor to the U.S. President Ivanka Trump who led the U.S. delegation to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.

President Moon greeted the U.S. First Daughter with a warm welcome at the Cheong Wa Dae main garden of Nokjiwon.

President Moon and presidential advisor Ivanka Trump held a meeting at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae for 40 minutes from 7:30 in the evening to discuss how to promote friendship between Korea and the United States and the closing of the successful PyeongChang Winter Olympics. 

President Moon said he could feel once again how close Korea and the United States are while watching this Olympics. He went on to say the two countries are allies and, at the same time, Koreans and Americans are closely interconnected. He continued to highlight the importance of close cooperation between Korea and the United States, saying the two countries would go together forever just like the motto of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, “We go together.” 

Presidential advisor Ivanka Trump said the meeting was an opportunity to reaffirm the bonds of friendship, cooperation and partnership between the two countries as well as a commitment to the maximum pressure campaign for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Moreover, she said she was pleased to have this meeting and chance to reconfirm joint values and strategic cooperation as partners and allies during her visit to Korea. 

After the meeting, President Moon and the U.S. presidential advisor attended a dinner at Sangchunjae, a traditional wooden building used for receptions.  

While having a dinner, President Moon, First Lady Kim Jung-sook and the U.S. presidential advisor talked about the stellar performances of both Korean and American athletes. They also had conversations about various topics such as women’s economic empowerment, the importance of work-life balance, Korean culture and K-pop.  

The First Daughter said after she had shown her children K-pop music videos, her children started to have a dance party every day. She went on to say that she would teach her children how to speak Korean and have her children sing Korean songs next time in front of President Moon and the First Lady. 

Besides her, those who were present at the dinner from the U.S. side included Senator James Risch, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, U.S. Forces Korea Commander Vincent Brooks, U.S. National Security Council Director for Korea Allison Hooker and Marc Knapper, who is serving as Chargé d`Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. 

Attendees from the Korean side included Chief of Staff to the President Im Jong-seok, Director of National Security Chung Eui-yong, Chief of Staff to the President for Policy Jang Hasung, and Senior Secretary to the President for Public Communication Yoon Young-chan.