SEOUL, September 5. /TASS/. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is satisfied by Monday’s phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during which the sides strongly condemned Pyongyang’s new nuclear tests, the South Korean leader said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.
"I’m very satisfied by the conversation with Putin in which he said that Russia constantly supports denuclearization of North Korea and also strongly condemns the continuing North Korean provocations," Moon Jae-in said in his first interview for the Russian mass media.
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"Besides, we were united about the need for the peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue by diplomatic means," the president said. Moon Jae-in noted that Pyongyang "should stop further provocations." "In order to force it to do this, we, the international community, will have to exert very powerful pressure on it," he said.
On September 3, North Korea officially announced a successful test of a hydrogen bomb that could be used as a warhead for an intercontinental ballistic missile. The news met tough reaction of the world community. South Korea and the United States said they did not rule out a possible military response to North Korea’s actions.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on all concerned parties to immediately resume dialogue and talks, saying that this is the only way to solve the problems of the Korean Peninsula.