Anchor: Ahead of his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next week, President Moon Jae-in told Reuters that Seoul and Washington will be able to resolve the North Korean nuclear problem. Moon also revealed his positions on how to handle China's retaliatory measures taken against the THAAD deployment and diplomatic friction over Japanese wartime sex slavery.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 
 
Report: 
 
[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)]
"North Korea is not yet capable in such aspects. But judging from the speed of North Korea's advancements in nuclear and missile technologies, I believe they will acquire such capability in the near future."
 
President Moon Jae-in says North Korea will soon develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
 
Ahead of his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next week, the South Korean president on Thursday held an interview with Reuters, highlighting the significance of their collaboration.
 
[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)]
"I believe if President Trump continues to place this issue as the top of his priorities, then I am sure we will be able to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue."
  
Moon said that strong sanctions should be imposed on the North if it conducts a sixth nuclear test or launches an ICBM, and the regime in Pyongyang must realize that it is going the wrong way.
 
The president said that no efforts are under way for him to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and an inter-Korean summit will only happen when meaningful progress is guaranteed on the North’s denuclearization.
 
He also stressed China's role in resolving the North Korean nuclear problem.
 
[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)]
"I believe that China is making efforts to stop North Korea from making additional provocations. Yet it is also true that there are no tangible results as of yet."
"China provides the most economic assistance to North Korea. Without the cooperation of China in international sanctions done by the U.N. Security Council resolutions, these sanctions will not be effective at all."
 
Moon said he hopes to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany next month, and discuss Beijing's retaliatory measures taken against Seoul's decision to house the U.S. THAAD antimissile system. 
 
[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)]
"But currently our view is that some of these measures have been lifted while many are still being continued. If I meet with President Xi, I will ask for him to lift all of these measures."
 
Moon expressed his hope to meet with as many world leaders as possible on the sidelines of the G20 summit, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
 
[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)]
"Japan does not make full efforts to resolve some issues of history between our two countries, including the comfort women issue."
 
In a series of interviews with foreign media, Moon has emphasized that his predecessor's 2015 accord with Japan on the wartime sex slavery issue did not work.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News. 

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