A senior presidential aide in charge of security said President Lee Jae Myung believes a potential meeting between North Korea and the United States would not necessarily require South Korea's participation.

Oh Hyun-joo, third deputy director of the National Security Office, said during a news conference in Seoul on Monday, ahead of Friday's Gyeongju Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) summit, that a discussion between Washington and Pyongyang, regardless of the circumstances, would signal "the beginning of everything."

Oh added that the chances of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meeting ahead of the APEC summit are very slim.

The deputy director said Seoul is prepared to quickly pull together such a meeting, should the need arise, but clarified that those preparations would not necessarily include Lee's attendance.

Oh said it was possible that Kim could, at the last minute, change his mind and accept a U.S. offer to meet, but said that to her knowledge, Washington had not asked Seoul to make a summit happen.