N. Korea-US summit to be held as scheduled despite tensions: Yonhap
People's Daily app
1526964028000

Chung+Eui+Yong+South+Korean+Envoy+Departs+0qkjzxkqUpil.jpg

File photo: Chung Eui-yong

The forthcoming summit between North Korea and the United States will push through as scheduled despite fresh tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Chung Eui-yong, chief of the South Korea's presidential National Security Office, made the remarks aboard Air Force One bound for Washington.

"We believe there is a 99.9 percent chance the North Korea-US summit (set for June 12 in Singapore) will be held as scheduled," Chung told reporters. "But we're just preparing for many different possibilities."

North Korea has recently ratcheted up its criticism of both Seoul and Washington over the allies' joint military exercise. The North has threatened to reconsider holding its first-ever summit with the United States and also suspended its high-level dialogue with Seoul originally set for last week.

Asked about the North's increasingly belligerent rhetoric, Chung said, "We're trying to understand the situation from the North's perspective."