Cho made the remark at a function in Seoul, saying a concrete, substantial progress was anticipated to be made in the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump as the leaders reached a comprehensive, principled agreement on the peninsula's denuclearization and peace during their first meeting.
Kim and Trump were scheduled to meet in Vietnam on February 27-28. The leaders held their first summit in Singapore in June last year.
The unification minister said the RoK will make utmost efforts for the success of the DPRK-US summit and the establishment of permanent peace on the peninsula by closely communicating and cooperating with the DPRK and the United States.
Meanwhile, Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman of the unification ministry, told a press briefing that RoK anticipated a more concrete, substantial progress to be made in the second Kim-Trump summit.
The spokesman noted that relations between the two Koreas and between the DPRK and the United States formed a virtuous cycle along with denuclearization negotiations.
Meanwhile, on February 7, the US State Department said that the choice of Vietnam as the venue for a second US-DPRK summit this month shows the possibility of moving beyond conflict and division toward a thriving partnership.
State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a news briefing that US Special Representative for North Korea (DPRK) Stephen Biegun was in Pyongyang to prepare the February 27-28 summit and seeking progress on commitments made at the first meeting between President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June.
These included complete denuclearization, transformation of US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula, he said. Palladino reiterated that sanctions relief that DPRK has been seeking would follow its denuclearization.
He said US-Vietnamese history "reflects the possibility for peace and prosperity."
"We moved past conflict and division towards the thriving partnership we enjoy today," Palladino said.
