President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday met with leaders of major political parties and discussed thorny issues, including the conservatives’ concerns about his administration’s engagement policy toward North Korea and a plan to relieve the United States of wartime operational control of South Korean forces on the peninsula. Moon and leaders of four political parties met for about two hours including a luncheon. Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae of the ruling Democratic Party, Chairwoman Lee Hye-hoon of the Bareun Party, Acting Chairman Park Joo-sun of the People’s Party and Chairwoman Lee Jeong-mi of the Justice Party joined the president at the Blue House. Chairman Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, Moon’s main rival in the May 9 presidential election, turned down the invitation. It was Moon’s first meeting with heads of the political parties since he took office. He invited floor leaders of the five political parties to the Blue House on May 19, nine days after his inauguration, to seek their cooperation. While the meeting was described as a briefing about Moon’s recent overseas trips, other contentious issues were discussed, according to the Blue House. The leaders demanded that Moon address his failure to respect his own principles in appointments to top positions, Park said. They also discussed the government’s decision to suspend construction of two nuclear reactors, a minimum wage increase, North Korea and other national security issues. According to Park, Moon tried to ease the political leaders’ concerns about his plan to resume inter-Korean talks amid the North’s continuing provocations.