President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday said that a peace treaty with North Korea will require the support of the US, and that he will work closely with Washington and Tokyo to bring about such an outcome.

During a 40-minute conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that began at 4 p.m., Moon said a peace treaty between the two Koreas would require the agreement of the US, and that he would cooperate with the US as well as Japan to create circumstances to allow such a treaty.

During the conversation, Abe hinted that his country could engage North Korea in dialogue should the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits be successful.

“Success of the inter-Korean summit will not only lead to the success of the US-North Korea summit that will follow, but contribute to normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea, and provide the opportunity to fundamentally solve issues between Japan and North Korea,” Moon was quoted as saying by Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.

According to Kim, Moon then asked Abe whether he considers Japan-North Korea talks to be necessary, to which the Japanese leader hinted at the possibility.

Kim added that Abe said successful inter-Korean and US-North Korea talks could lead to dialogue between Tokyo and Pyongyang.

“Successful inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits would mean nuclear and missile issues, and abduction issues being resolved,” Kim quoted Abe as saying.

“In that case, resolution of past issues between Japan and North Korea and normalization of relations could be achieved.”

Moon also said that he has raised the issue of abducted Japanese citizens with North Korea and that he will relay Abe’s position to Kim during his meeting on Friday.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)