Disappointment in South Korea as Trump nixes summit with Kim

Relations between the two Koreas have warmed since Winter Olympics in February, when North Korea agreed to send its athletes to South Korea.

In April, Kim became the first North Korean leader to step into South Korea since the 1953 Korean War for an historic summit between Kim and Moon. The two leaders promised to work for the denuclearisation of the region and pledged to sign a peace deal. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke on the phone with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and received assurance that the US wants to keep the diplomatic channel with Pyongyang open, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Earlier, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyegwan said that despite Trump’s decision to cancel the June 12 meeting in Singapore, Pyongyang has the “intent to sit with the US side to solve the problem regardless of ways at any time”.

Still, politicians in Seoul did not hide their disappointment in the abrupt decision of Trump.

“It’s a shame that there’s a big obstacle in the process of the US-North Korea summit, but we believe the dialogue between the North and the US will be resumed,” said Kim Hyun, spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, the political party of Moon.

Hong Min, director of the North Korean studies division at the Korean Institute for National Unification, said it did not look like the US consulted South Korea over the cancellation. “It is a diplomatic disrespect to President Moon, who has been coordinating between the North and the US as a mediator,” Hong added.

South Korean National Assembly member Hong Junpyo, leader of the opposition Liberty Korea Party, said in his Facebook post, “I express a deep regret.”

He questioned the sincerity of North Korea’s promise to denuclearise saying, “It reaffirms that the North Korean nuclear issue needs to be resolved with continuous international sanctions and pressure.”

Reactions of ordinary South Koreans also reflect the disappointment of the political establishment.

“It’s a shame that the summit has been called off because the opportunity like this doesn’t come easily,” said Song Dong-suk, a 36-year-old office worker in Seoul. “But since