SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will stop by the northwestern U.S. state of Alaska on Monday before continuing his journey to South Korea, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 9, local TV reported Saturday.
No details about his activities during the stopover had been disclosed, but KTVA 11 News, an Alaska-based affiliate of CBS TV network, said Pence is scheduled to inspect missile-defense installations in the state, citing sources in Pence's office.
"The vice president's trip will ultimately take him to PyeongChang, South Korea, as head of the U.S. delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics," the report said.
Earlier in the day, the Blue House, South Korea's presidential residence in Seoul, said that President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, held a phone conversation late Friday for 30 minutes, in which they discussed the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the upcoming sporting event.
Moon said he hoped that Pence's attendance at the Winter Olympics can become a significant turning point for promoting the inter-Korean dialogue, which he expected would last after the Olympics, thus contributing to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
