This photo, provided by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on June 8, 2017, shows President Moon Jae-in presiding over a National Security Council session at the office in Seoul. (Yonhap)
South Korea's top security officials on Thursday discussed the issue of a G7 summit that the United States is expected to host later this year, Cheong Wa Dae said.
During the weekly standing committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), the officials "reviewed the situation on the push for this year's G7 summit and discussed the direction of South Korea's participation in the case that it's held," the presidential office said in a press release.
In addition, they agreed to "respond actively" to the matter of expanding the G7 membership, it added, without giving further details in a two-paragraph press release.
The meeting was chaired by Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae.
In phone talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on June 1, US President Donald Trump invited him to join the G7 summit.
Moon immediately accepted it. Trump said he would like to play host to the session as early as in September.
Citing the G7's outdated system, he expressed hope that South Korea, Australia and India, as well as probably Russia, will take part in an expanded forum.
The US has not announced the schedule, the exact venue and other details.
A Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters that the US is still in consultations with relevant nations on the matter.
The existing G7 members are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. (Yonhap)
