US ‘hasn’t been notified of N.Korea quit threat’
US president Donald Trump said America has not been notified about North Korea’s threat to cancel his planned summit with Kim Jong Un next month.
Mr Trump said he will still insist on the country’s denuclearisation.
North Korea threatened to scrap the historic summit next month between the two leaders, saying it has no interest in a “one-sided” affair meant to pressure the North to abandon its nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump said the White House has not been notified at all about the threat.
He added: “We haven’t seen anything. We haven’t heard anything. We will see what happens.”
China has urged its ally North Korea to proceed with the historic summit.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the sides should ensure the meeting runs as planned and yields “substantial outcomes”.
Mr Kim and Mr Trump are due to meet in Singapore on June 12, but Pyongyang has threatened to withdraw, saying it has no interest in a “one-sided” affair meant to pressure it into abandoning its nuclear weapons.
Mr Lu said the meeting was crucial to reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining regional peace and stability.
The Chinese call came as President Xi Jinping met with a delegation from North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, at which he expressed support for the North’s avowed new emphasis on economic development along with improving relations with South Korea.
Mr Xi said: “We support the improvement of North-South [Korean] relations, the promotion of dialogue between North Korea and the US, denuclearisation on the peninsula and North Korea’s development of its economy and improvement of its people’s livelihood.”
The North’s warning came hours after it abruptly cancelled a high-level meeting with South Korea, in protest over US-South Korean military exercises.
A senior Japanese official said Tokyo considers the US-South Korean joint exercise, along with those between the three allies, as key pillars of deterrence in the region.