President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their summit talks at Panmunjom on April 7. (Photo on the courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae)

U.S. President Donald Trump.

As South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to hold an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang from Sept. 18 to 20, the third one in recent months, global focus is on whether the upcoming inter-Korean summit talks between President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will break the stalemate in U.S.-NK negotiations over denuclearization.

The White House said there is a possibility a second summit may be held. The move can be construed as a U.S. move to solve a stalemate in U.S.-NK negotiations on denuclearization via a top-down method of summit talks. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told a press briefing on Sept. 10 that another meeting was always the best outcomes.

If both sides find common ground in their negotiations over denuclearization, there will be a relay of summit talks, including SK-US summit talks, to be on the sideline of the U.N. General Assembly Meeting, and a 2nd US-NK summit following the 3rd inter-Korean summit. If US President Donald Trump favors holding US-NK summit talks prior to the U.S. mid-term elections slated for November, President Trump is most likely to meet with NK leader Kim for a 3rd summit at a third country.

Pundits said even though the United States and North Korea push for summit talks for domestic reasons, whether their summit will take place hangs on the outcome of their negotiations over denuclearization.

NK leader Kim sent a second personal letter to President Trump in July in which he expressed hope they would hold a 2nd summit to make a dramatic advance in US-NK relations, but the White House had so far kept silent on the topic. But the White House disclosed a plan to push for holding a 2nd summit as if it waited for being asked on a fourth personal letter NK leader Kim sent to President Trump.

On the matter, former Korean ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo said the United States might have disclosed a possibility of holding a 2nd summit with NK, based on positive signals on NK position on its nuclear facilities that appeared during US-NK behind-the-scene contacts. President Trump, who told U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo to put off his 4th visit to Pyongyang late August, had continued to hold contacts with North Korea behind the scenes.

An anonymous U.S. senior official’s column contributed to the New York Times and Bod Woodward’s new book called ”Fear: Trump in the White House,” detailing chaos of the President Trump administration, have apparently dealt a severe blow to President Trump. The U.S. president might tinker with a 2nd US-NK to turn the political tide unfavorable to himself, analysts said.

Park Byung-gwang, a senior researcher with the Institute for National Security Strategy, said word of a 2nd US-NK summit appeared to circulate as President Trump, who was cornered in a political crisis might have the same wavelengths with NK leader Kim.

The reality is that whether a 2nd US-NK summit will be held depends on NK’s positions on denuclearization. North Korea demands that the United States should declare an end of the Korean Ward before they act on denuclearization. U. S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said in an event in Washington DC recently NK leader’s promise was clear, and the Unites States was waiting for NK to act to make good on it.

While presiding over a cabinet meeting on Sept. 11, President Moon said denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula was an issue that can be solved through US-NK negotiations. but SK will have to mediate and spur dialogue and facilitate communication between the United States and NK until they are getting smooth. President Moon stressed his role as a mediator on US-NK negotiations on denuclearization, saying that President Trump and NK leader Kim both had requested him of the role.

President Moon is to flesh out agreements reached at the April 7 Panmunjom Declaration during his upcoming 3rd summit with NK leader Kim.