President Moon Jae-in met with former Indonesian President Megawati and other leading Indonesian figures at Cheong Wa Dae for an hour from four o’clock this afternoon. During the meeting in a warm and friendly atmosphere, they reaffirmed trust between Korea and Indonesia and engaged in sincere discussions on what efforts should be made to normalize inter-Korean relations.

President Megawati began by offering congratulations, saying that the recent election of President Moon seemed to have brought stability to Korea. She also offered special regards from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was cited as saying that he looked forward to President Moon’s visit to Indonesia.

President Moon responded by saying that he was grateful to President Widodo for his congratulatory call and also for meeting his special envoy Park Won-soon in person. He went on to note his understanding that President Megawati helped develop Indonesia’s democracy and economy remarkably as well as played a role as a bridge between the two Koreas while in office.

President Megawati spoke in depth about her conversations and meetings with officials of the North Korean regime during her tenure. In reply, President Moon said that he was well aware of the fact that she had provided significant assistance to the inter-Korean summits under the former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. The President went on to say that he thought it would bring a great result if President Megawati would play an active role as before.

Noting that the Government of the Republic of Korea is pursuing a huge change in inter-Korean relations, President Moon put forth guiding principles. First, the matters concerning the Korean Peninsula have to be resolved primarily by both Koreas. Second, instead of solely applying sanctions and pressures against the North as previous Administrations did, dialogue has to be pursued at the same time. The President said that, in order for all these to happen, North Korea had to at least stop any additional nuclear testing and missile provocations as well as be ready to return to the negotiating table to dismantle its nuclear programs. Concerning these policy directions, President Moon added that he would engage in in-depth discussions with President Trump.

In response to a request from President Moon for efforts to normalize inter-Korean relations, President Megawati gave a positive feedback. She expressed her idea that since the two Koreas were originally one nation, they should certainly be united again. Then, she emphasized a variety of endeavors involving society, culture, education, health care and the economy, rather than only trying to solve the inter-Korean issue politically. The two sides reached a consensus that an economic approach would be most effective in solving the inter-Korean problem.

From the beginning to the end, President Moon and President Megawati had an earnest discussion, spending most of their time talking about how to bring inter-Korean relations back to normal. President Megawati said she intends to seek a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and asked whether it would be all right to extend President Moon’s greetings to him if she succeeded. President Moon answered that it would be okay to forward everything they discussed today.

President Moon said the diplomatic relationship between Korea and ASEAN, including Indonesia, should be developed to the level of that between Korea and the four major powers whose interests converge on the Korean Peninsula, asking Indonesia to play a central role to that end. President Megawati also said she would share what they had discussed at the meeting with President Widodo.