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US President Donald Trump canceled his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

On May 25, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his plan to cancel the North Korea-US summit was “disconcerting and very regrettable,” adding that he hopes “this will be resolved through closer and more direct dialogue between leaders.”

At midnight, President Moon summoned the members of the National Security Council’s standing committee – including Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Unification Minister Cho Myung-gyon, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon and Senior Secretary for Public Relations Yoon Young-chan – for an hour-long emergency meeting at his residence in the Blue House.

“It is disconcerting and very regrettable that the North Korea-US summit will not be held on June 12 as planned,” President Moon said during the meeting.

“Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and permanent peace are historical tasks that can neither be abandoned nor delayed. The sincerity of the parties who have striven to resolve those problems remains unchanged,” President Moon said.

“It is not feasible to resolve sensitive and difficult foreign policy issues through the current method of communication. I hope that this will be resolved through closer and more direct dialogue between leaders,” the president said, emphasizing direct communication on hotlines between the leaders of South and North Korea and the leaders of North Korea and the US that would sideline hardliner aides.

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

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