"You must have had a hard time running in the race for a long time, and I'm happy that you completed it and won," Moon was quoted as telling Lee. "I think the party and the government will be a good match because I have a lot of connection with you."

The president also showed his intent to meet ruling and opposition party leaders sooner or later to win their cooperation in passing many government-proposed bills through the parliament.

"I'll soon have a meal with the party leadership, but I'll invite leaders of other parties, too. Cheong Wa Dae will make efforts to facilitate communication with the ruling party."

He asked for Lee's efforts to encourage more legislators to join the trip to visit the North and ask the Pyongyang leader to engage actively in dialogue with Washington.

"When you meet Chairman Kim Jong-un during the summit, I hope you will ask him to actively engage in dialogue with the United States so relations between the two countries can go smoothly."

During the latest high-level talks in the border village of Panmunjom earlier this month, the two Koreas agreed to hold the third Moon-Kim summit in Pyongyang sometime in September. (Yonhap)