By Park Gil-ja and Yoon Sojung

President Moon Jae-in on Feb. 25 said his administration will prepare for a new regime on the Korean Peninsula while expressing expectations of optimistic results from the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, scheduled for later this week. 

In a meeting of senior presidential aides at Cheong Wa Dae, he said, "We are now the ones turning the page of history from a time of suffering from colonization, war, division and Cold War rivalry to a time when we lead an era of peace and prosperity."

"Standing at the center of history, not the periphery, we will take the lead in preparing for a new Korean Peninsula regime -- one that is moving from war and confrontation toward peace and harmony and from factionalism and ideology toward economic prosperity." 

President Moon lauded U.S. President Donald Trump by saying, "If President Trump succeeds in dissolving the world’s last remaining Cold War rivalry, it will become yet another great feat that will be indelibly recorded in world history."

"I also applaud (North Korean) Chairman Kim Jong Un’s resolve to move toward the future from the past by choosing economic development over nuclear arms."

President Moon added, "We wish for the success of the summit as an expression of our support for the two leaders because it will serve as a decisive opportunity to resolve the threat of war and other security concerns on the Korean Peninsula as well as to enable us to move toward the age of a peace-driven economy." 

In addition, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom, in a regular news briefing held the same day, mentioned the possibility of Pyeongyang and Washington agreeing to a formal declaration to end the Korean War in their summit this week. 

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