South Korea to send special envoys on THAAD, DPRK to China

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will send special envoys to China to discuss issues concerning the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a senior presidential press secretary said here on Thursday.

Yoon Young-chan told a press conference here on Thursday that President Moon would dispatch separate delegations to discuss THAAD and the DPRK's nuclear program with their Chinese counterparts, although the two issues will be dealt with together.

Yoon said the dispatches were mentioned during the first telephone conversation between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping which lasted for 40 minutes beginning at about noon.

Xi has congratulated Moon on his election win and the two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys as soon as possible, according to Yoon.

During the phone conversation, the two leaders discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK's nuclear program, Yoon said.

Xi and Moon agreed to meet face-to-face at the earliest possible date, while re-affirming their common goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

During the phone dialogue, Moon advocated a two-track approach of pressure and sanctions toward the DPRK to resolve the country's nuclear issue in a comprehensive, staged way.

Moon said the ultimate goal of sanctions was to bring the DPRK to the dialogue table to abolish its nuclear program.

On Wednesday night, Moon held his first phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump and talked about the Peninsula situations. Trump officially invited Moon to the United States. Endi