North Korea says still open to talks with US

May 25, 2018 | 09:22

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North Korea on Friday (May 25) said it was still willing to talk to the United States after President Donald Trump cancelled a summit between the two countries, a decision Pyongyang described as "extremely regrettable".

north korea says still open to talks with us

North Korean soldiers stand guard before the military demarcation line on the north side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas on Apr 26, 2018. (Photo: Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP)

"The abrupt announcement of the cancellation of the meeting is unexpected for us and we cannot but find it extremely regrettable," Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister, said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency.

"We had set in high regards President Trump's efforts, unprecedented by any other president, to create a historic North Korea-US summit," said the vice foreign minister.

"We again state to the US our willingness to sit face-to-face at any time in any form to resolve the problem," Kim added.

Kim also said that Trump's decision to scrap the summit that was planned to take place in Singapore on Jun 12 was not in line with the world's wishes and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had made utmost efforts to hold the summit.

The summit is urgent in order to resolve "grave hostile relations", he said.

AFP

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