President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook arrived at the White House at six o’clock this evening for a welcoming dinner hosted by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Presidents Moon and Trump met in the Diplomatic Reception Room and moved to the State Dining Room where they had a brief conversation while standing for about ten minutes. The dinner followed immediately.

The two heads of state exchanged opinions about pending issues between the two countries in a very forthright manner from the beginning. The dinner lasted until 7:50 in the evening, about 20 minutes longer than scheduled.

Immediately before going down to the first floor after dinner, President and Mrs. Trump suggested that President Moon and First Lady Kim see around their private living quarters. They all took the elevator up to the third floor and went into the Treaty Room. President Trump explained that most of the hallway is his private space that is rarely open to guests and that the Treaty Room was the place where a treaty was signed when the United States purchased the Louisiana territory from France.

Next, President Trump guided the visiting presidential couple to the Lincoln Bedroom in a rare move where he showed them the original of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. He suggested that President Moon sit at Lincoln’s desk and have his pictures taken. In the meantime, the U.S. First Lady went off for a short while to put her son, Barren Trump, to bed and joined them again a few minutes later. 

The conversation between the two Presidents was frank and serious from beginning to end, and numerous matters concerning the Korean Peninsula were discussed in a constructive manner. Though the dialogue began in a somewhat tense atmosphere at the outset, it grew friendlier as time passed. President Trump said that he had watched President Moon delivering his speech at the Jangjin Reservoir Battle Monument in Quantico, Virginia the day before, adding that it was excellent and moving. Speaking of praises about the speech that he had heard from many people, President Trump extended congratulations to President Moon.

President Moon congratulated President Trump on America’s economic accomplishments since his inauguration, adding that Korea also came to have new hope as it was encouraged by these accomplishments. The President went on to say that Korea was the only country that achieved both economic growth and democracy among those that had gained independence since the Second World War. He continued that the nation that transplanted democracy and capitalism into Korea was the United States, adding that the United States, as well, should feel rewarded by Korea’s success.

The two leaders agreed to solve the North Korean nuclear issue and bring about peace on the Korean Peninsula and economic prosperity, building upon the strong ROK-U.S. alliance.

After the dinner, the American attendees said the dinner was very successful and was an opportunity for the two leaders to build trust and friendship on their first meeting.