Trump and Moon Jae-in agreed on the phone that the North Korean situation was serious and agreed to promote talks.

The two leaders agreed that they should "maintain the momentum of dialogue to achieve rapid results from denuclearization talks", the Green House (presidential government of Korea) issued a statement, referring to the phone call. 30 minutes today between US President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

This is the first conversation between the two leaders of the United States and South Korea since meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. President Trump is the one who initiated the telephone.

Negotiations on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula have been deadlocked since the US-North Korea summit in February ended without reaching an agreement. The latest meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un in June at the inter-Korean border did not make the situation any better. North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister on Tuesday warned of how the US will behave will determine "Christmas gifts" they receive by the end of the year.

Pyongyang has repeatedly warned against wanting to continue engaging in useless negotiations with Washington, and threatened if the Trump administration did not change its "hostile" approach, it would take counter measures.

South Korean leaders played a bridge role at the first US-Korea summit in Singapore last year, which was seen as a landmark event. However, the conference only made a vague commitment on denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.