SEOUL, June 25:South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Tuesday that it would be hard for another inter-Korean summit to be held before U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Seoul later this week. Kim made the remark during a parliamentary session of foreign affairs and unification, saying it was not optimistic to predict an inter-Korean summit before the planned summit between South Korea and the United States.

Trump was set to make a two-day visit to Seoul from Saturday to hold a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday. Moon expressed hope for his meeting with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), before Trump's trip to South Korea. The minister said South Korea had a position that it would be desirable to hold an inter-Korean summit before the South Korea-U.S. summit, but he noted that there was no such plan currently. Moon and Kim met three times last year, but the DPRK has not responded to Seoul's summit proposal this year.