President Moon Jae-in enters room inside Cheong Wa Dae for luncheon with seniors who fought for democracy during the "Gwangju uprising" happened during the military rule in early 1980, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

South Korea is pushing hard to get an early resumption of joint inter-Korean economic projects recognized as a key issue to be dealt with when U.S. President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Vietnam, next week.

Expectations are high here about a possible consensus between the leaders about the cross border projects after Moon spoke with Trump via telephone, late Tuesday (KST).

Moon asked Trump to offer the projects as "incentives" for the North to speed up its denuclearization process, "widely and verifiably," according to Cheong Wa Dae.

Presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Moon "directly stated" that "if President Trump asks, South Korea will be ready to do its part, lessening the United States' burden."

On Wednesday, Cheong Wa Dae officials said Washington was "studying and reviewing possible scenarios" in which Trump could offer reciprocal steps to the North for nuclear disarmament steps.