Revealing the reason why President Trump canceled Secretary of State Pompeo's visit to North Korea

The Washington Post reported on August 27 that President Trump made the decision after Secretary of State Pompeo received a hostile letter from a senior North Korean official, just hours after the visit was announced last week.

Secretary of State Pompeo's decision to cancel his visit to Pyongyang could further complicate denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US. Photo: Getty

The Washington Post quoted two unnamed senior US administration officials as saying that the letter sent on August 24 was from Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Yong-chol, who led previous rounds of negotiations with Secretary of State Pompeo.

The newspaper said the exact content of the letter was unclear, but the message was hostile enough for President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo to cancel the visit.

The White House has referred its concerns about the Washington Post's report to the State Department, which has yet to comment on the matter.

The decision has been met with reactions from countries in the region. The Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the North Korean Workers' Party, published an article on August 26 accusing the US of being "two-faced" and plotting to sabotage Pyongyang after Washington abruptly canceled a planned visit by Secretary of State Pompeo.

The article criticized US actions as proving that the country is plotting to trigger a war against North Korea.

In addition, the article cited a South Korean media outlet as saying that a US special forces unit stationed in Japan was conducting an air exercise aimed at "infiltrating Pyongyang".

The article stressed that North Korea cannot tolerate the "two-faced" behavior of the US when Washington is busy with secret military exercises while conducting dialogue with a friendly attitude.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Foreign Ministry expressed regret and stressed the importance of continuing to seek ways for dialogue between the United States and North Korea to contribute to achieving the common goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a lasting peace settlement.

China's Foreign Ministry has expressed "serious concern" over recent US statements on North Korea, after President Trump canceled Secretary of State Pompeo's planned visit to Pyongyang and criticized China for its denuclearization process.

On Twitter on August 24, President Trump said he had asked Secretary of State Pompeo not to go to North Korea at this time because he did not feel there was enough progress regarding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

In addition, in the context of the US showing a tough stance with China on trade issues, the White House owner expressed skepticism about Beijing's willingness to support the denuclearization process as it did before.

However, President Trump also added that Secretary of State Pompeo will still go to North Korea "in the near future" when US-China trade relations are "resolved".

Analysts said that Secretary of State Pompeo's decision to cancel his visit to Pyongyang could complicate denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US, and could affect South Korea's efforts to promote inter-Korean relations./.