S Korea's Moon wants 'heart-to-heart' summit talks with Kim

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday that he will push for "irreversible, permanent peace," and for better dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, during "heart-to-heart" talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week.

His chief of staff, however, played down the chance that Moon's summit with Kim will produce major progress in nuclear diplomacy.

Moon flies to Pyongyang on Tuesday for his third summit of the year with Kim. This one comes as global diplomatic efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear programme have stalled and questions have been raised about how serious Kim is about following through with his vague commitments to denuclearise.

"I aim to have lots of heart-to-heart talks with Chairman Kim Jong Un," Moon said during a meeting with top advisers, according to his office.

"What I want to achieve is peace. I mean irreversible, permanent peace that is not shaken by international politics." To achieve such a peace, Moon said he'll focus during the summit on easing a decades-long military standoff between the Koreas and promoting a North Korea-US dialogue on denuclearization issues.

Moon said he wants "to find a middle ground between a US request for (North Korea's) denuclearization and the North's request for corresponding measures such as ending hostile relations and security assurances."