South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, belongs to a progressive party that has been out of power for nearly 10 years. His formative political experience was working for another president, Roh Moo-hyun, whose government believed in cooperating with, rather than battling, North Korea — a policy on which Moon also campaigned. But North Korea seems eager to test the Western alliance since President Trump took office. In that time, the North has fired new long-range missiles that experts say could ultimately reach San Francisco. What happens when a dovish president in Seoul and a hawkish one in Washington disagree on how to contain North Korea? Ahead of Moon’s first visit to the White House this coming week, The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth sought to find out. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.

Q: You seem to want to engage with North Korea. During the campaign, you talked about going to Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong Un. Do you think this is a good idea?

A: If the right conditions are met, then I still believe it is a good idea.

Q: What are those?

A: President Trump also mentioned that under the right conditions, he is willing to engage in dialogue with North Korea. Regarding exactly how, we do not have a detailed way forward. It must be in close consultation with the United States.