South Korea's president says there's a growing 'consensus' Washington and Pyongyang need to talk

South Korean President Moon Jae-in
(Image credit: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Saturday he wants to "create an environment" conducive to talks between Seoul and Pyongyang, but that a "consensus is starting to build that there's also a need for talks between the United States and North Korea." In the absence of those negotiations, Moon seemed cautious about moving forward with unilateral conversations that could anger Washington, South Korea's most powerful ally.

He declined to formally accept the invitation to talks extended by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while she visited the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, this month. "Let's not get too far ahead," Moon said. "There are high expectations and our hearts seem to be getting impatient."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.