Moon, Trump discuss N. Korea’s threat to pull out of summit
SEOUL South Korean President Moon Jae In and US President Donald Trump held discussions yesterday to ensure that the North Korea-US summit remains on track after North Korea threatened to pull out of the high-level talks.
Mr Moon and Mr Trump spoke over the phone for about 20 minutes and exchanged their views on North Korea's recent reactions, South Korea's presidential office said.
"The two leaders will work closely and unwaveringly for the successful hosting of the North Korea- US summit set on June 12, including the upcoming South Korea-US summit," the presidential official said.
Mr Moon and Mr Trump are set to meet tomorrow in Washington before North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets Mr Trump on June 12 in Singapore.
Although a historic inter-Korean summit in late April raised hopes of reconciliation, North Korea showed a dramatic change in tone in recent days.
North Korea's chief negotiator Ri Son Gwon said last week it would not hold talks with South Korea unless their demands were met, taking issue with the US-South Korean air combat drills known as Max Thunder.
It came a day after it threatened to pull out of the summit with the US.
And on Saturday, a spokesman for North Korea's Red Cross Society demanded South Koreasend North Korean workers back "without delay" to show the will to improve the inter-Korean ties, the North's Korea Central News agency said.
A dozen North Korean restaurant workers came to South Korea in 2016 from China, and North Korea had claimed they were abducted by the South, though the South has said the 12 defected of their own free will.
Researcher Lee Dong Bok of the New Asia Research Institution said that part of the reason for the North demanding the repatriation is to divide South Korea's public opinion over the 12 workers.
"It is also to pressure the Moon government to agree to its demand so that South Korea can keep up the momentum for the North Korea-US summit meeting". - REUTERS
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