(Bloomberg) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed setting up an “East Asian Railroad Community” that includes the U.S. as he seeks to advance economic cooperation with North Korea despite rising tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

Moon, who plans to visit North Korea’s capital next month for his third summit this year with Kim Jong Un, said in an address Wednesday marking South Korea’s independence that the new economic community would connect his country’s railroads to those of other northeast Asian nations.

“The community will expand the horizon of the Korean economy to the northern part of the continent and become the main artery of mutual prosperity in Northeast Asia,” Moon said, adding that the group could lead to similar energy and economic groupings. “It will initiate a Northeast Asian multilateral peace and security system.”

Moon has championed efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula since taking office last year, and played a crucial role in bringing Trump and Kim together. Since then, little progress has been made in getting North Korea to commit to a specific timetable to give up its nuclear weapons.

Moon said he and Kim would take a “bold” step forward toward declaring the end of the Korean War and signing a peace treaty. North Korea has persistently said that a peace regime was necessary for progress on denuclearization.

--With assistance from Peter Pae.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sohee Kim in Seoul at skim847@bloomberg.net;Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate

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