President Moon Jae-in says the strong South Korea-U.S. alliance is what created the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and led North Korea to engage in dialogue.

Moon made the remark on Thursday during talks with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence held on the sidelines of meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore. 

The president stressed that in order to establish permanent peace on the peninsula, advancement in inter-Korean relations and North Korea-U.S. ties must go hand-in-hand.

He noted that with the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February of this year, a mood of peace was created on the peninsula and ensuing months saw three rounds of inter-Korean summits and the first ever U.S.-North Korea summit. 

Moon said that he believes significant progress will be made on the complete denuclearization and peace-establishing process once the next U.S.-North Korea summit takes place.

He added that he is always thankful to U.S. President Donald Trump for this strong leadership and resolution, stressing that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shares his views.