A leading U.S. daily is reporting that a top North Korean official sent a secret letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that caused President Trump to cancel Pompeo's trip to Pyongyang.
Lee Ji-won reports.
President Donald Trump's decision to call off his Secretary of State's fourth visit to North Korea... seems to have been prompted by a letter from Pyongyang.
An opinion piece in the Washington Post Monday said the decision to cancel Pompeo's trip came just hours after the Secretary received a "secret letter" last Friday from North Korea's Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party's Central Committee, Kim Yong-chol.
The article cited two senior White House officials as saying the letter was belligerent enough that President Trump and Secretary Pompeo were convinced the planned visit would not be successful.
Trump tweeted that the trip was canceled because of a lack of progress on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The article in the Post said the letter was in response to the latest one from Trump, in which he urged North Korea to take more concrete actions on denuclearization and warned against backsliding.
While the officials declined to say how North Korea delivered the letter, the article said that North Korea has been increasingly using its UN mission.
It also said Secretary Pompeo's fourth visit to Pyongyang, slated for this week, was to negotiate a step-for-step deal.
The regime has been asking the U.S. to declare an end to the Korean War, while the Trump administration has been asking Pyongyang for a declaration of its nuclear and missile programs and assets.
But despite the historic North Korea-U.S. summit in June and the follow up meetings, there has been no significant progress made on denuclearizing.
And Trump acknowledged the lack of progress in these talks for the first time in that tweet.
The ball has now been tossed to North Korea, and many say the regime's next move could result in even more sanctions if it doesn't satisfy President Trump.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
