South Korean President Moon Jae In released a statement on the surprise news Thursday night that U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Moon quickly convened a meeting with aides so they could "figure out what President Trump's intention is and the exact meaning of it," according to a Moon spokesman quoted by Yonhap News Agency.
South Korea's Blue House released the statement below in the early morning hours Friday, local time:
President Moon Jae In convened an emergency national security council's standing committee meeting for an hour from midnight on 25th KST.
It is very regretful and disconcerting that the US-NK summit will not happen as planned. Denuclearization and the lasting peace on the Korean peninsula cannot be abandoned or delayed as they are the historical assignment. The sincerity of the affected parties who have been working to resolve the problem has not changed. It is hard to resolve sensitive and difficult diplomatic issues with the current way of communications. (We) hope that the leaders resolve problems through direct and close dialogue.