President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo have agreed that Seoul, Tokyo and Washington need to maintain close coordination and strengthen their cooperation to draw concrete actions from Pyongyang on denuclearization. 

Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said in a media briefing on Friday that Moon and Abe reached the consensus during a 45-minute phone call on Friday afternoon. 

According to Kim, Moon said holding an inter-Korean summit alone will not be enough to bring permanent peace to the Korean Peninsula. The president added that North Korea should also improve its relations with Japan as well as the U.S. in order to produce further advancement in inter-Korean ties. 

In response, Abe indirectly expressed his hope for the possibility of a Pyongyang-Tokyo summit by mentioning the first Japan-North Korea summit held by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September 2002. 

The two leaders also agreed to cooperate for the resolution of pending issues between the North and Japan, including the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. 

[Photo : ]