Ivanka Trump (left), assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, poses for a photo with President Moon Jae-in at the entrance to the Sangchunjae Hall at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 23.

Ivanka Trump (left), assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, poses for a photo with President Moon Jae-in at the entrance to the Sangchunjae Hall at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 23.

By Xu Aiying and Yoon Sojung
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in and White House advisor Ivanka Trump met on Feb. 23 at Cheong Wa Dae to discuss measures to boost the Seoul-Washington relationship and to boost cooperation on the successful finish of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

The White House advisor was visiting Korea with a U.S. delegation to attend the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

President Moon said that interest from and cooperation with the U.S. played a crucial part in helping Korea to successfully host the PyeongChang Olympics, while mentioning the participation of Vice President Mike Pence and the delegation at the Opening Ceremony, and the participation of Ivanka Trump and the rest of the U.S. delegation at the Closing Ceremony.

President Moon told the White House advisor that, “Looking at these Winter Olympics, I realized once again just how close Seoul and Washington are to each other.” He then mentioned the Korean-American snowboarder who won the gold in the women’s snowboard half pipe event, and another Korean-American athlete who played for the unified Korean women’s hockey team.

The president said that, “Both countries will always go together forever, like the motto of ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, ‘We go together.’”

President Moon said, “Thanks to North Korea’s Olympic participation, which brings active dialogue between the two, tensions have eased on the Korean Peninsula and inter-Korean relations have improved.”

“The process of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and that of inter-Korean dialogue must have improvements together, and toward this aim, close cooperation between Seoul and Washington is essential,” said the president.

White House advisor Ivanka Trump expressed a congratulatory message from U.S. President Donald Trump to all Korean citizens and to the government for successfully hosting the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. She said, “Thank you for hosting us all here tonight as we reaffirm our bonds of friendship, of cooperation, of partnership and as we reaffirm our commitment to our ‘maximum pressure’ campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized.

She also said that, “I thank you for hosting us all here tonight as we reaffirm our joint values and strategic cooperation as partners and allies.”

Ivanka Trump (left), assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, and President Moon Jae-in attend a dinner at the Sangchunjae Hall at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 23.

Ivanka Trump (left), assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, and President Moon Jae-in attend a dinner at the Sangchunjae Hall at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 23.

xuaiy@korea.kr