US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's trip may have been cut short, but if it were up to South Korea, the meetings between the North and the US would push through. These views were also shared by a former US envoy to the South, Donald Gregg, who worked in the region during the elder Bush's administration.
US president Donald Trump admitted that he made Pompeo divert from the trip because of a stall in talks concerning nuclear disarmament. The North Korean side promised this; Trump cited China as the main reason behind this, which the Chinese government denied. Fox News commented that South Korea is still urging both sides to talk it out, as it was important to maintain and finally have lasting peace in the continent.
Secretary Pompeo's visit was one of the topics that they discussed. The other issues included the earlier promised disarmament, a progress in discussions between the two sides, as well as permanent peace in the area. The South Korean Foreign Ministry shared these even as Donald Gregg shared his thoughts on the situation.
According to the former US ambassador, monitoring the situation had given him the notion that the situation still sits on a powder keg of sorts. Immediate and straightforward talks between both sides-Washington and Pyongyang-should continue, according to the ambassador, to keep North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, if they still have ideas of doing it.
Gregg, according to Council on Foreign Relations, had shared his efforts to get both sides talking and discussing. He had time and again come to the White House to share his ideas, but he had been rebuffed time and again as well. Gregg, however, said that his advice was based on the ideas of every other person who thinks direct talks with North Korea is the only way to avoid a nuclear crisis.
It had been earlier reported that Pompeo's visit to the country didn't go well. North Korea accused the US secretary of being impolite, while Pompeo said that the country had been stalling in an effort to do something else.
Even South Korean president Moon Jae-in himself said that direct talks should continue if both sides want a cessation in hostilities. The president is scheduled to meet up with his North Korean counterparts in an effort to continue ongoing talks.
