(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in said talks involving North Korea should continue, referring to the situation on the peninsula as grave.
The two leaders spoke by phone for about 30 minutes on Saturday morning in Seoul, in a call that took place at Trump's request, according to Moon's spokeswoman Ko Min-jung.
“The two leaders acknowledged that the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is serious and agreed that the dialogue momentum aimed at delivering an early accomplishment of the U.S.-North Korea talks for the North's denuclearization should be maintained,” Ko said in a text message to reporters.
The conversation comes amid signs that North Korea may be preparing to conduct engine tests at its long-range rocket launch site, and rising tensions as a war of words between it and the U.S. continues.
A satellite image from Thursday showed activity at North Korea's Sohae Launch Facility, which leader Kim Jong Un had once said he dismantled in a concession to Trump.
Earlier this week, Washington and Pyongyang revisited old insults -- “Rocket Man” from Trump and “dotard” from North Korea -- and Pyongyang said Washington's behavior will determine what “Christmas gift” it gets from Kim.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kanga Kong in Seoul at kkong50@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Sungwoo Park
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