South Korea's presidential Blue House said Monday that the cancellation of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will influence the opening date of the inter-Korean liaison office.
Blue House Spokesman Kim Eui-keum told a press briefing that he "cannot say there will be no influence" of the cancelled Pompeo visit to the DPRK on the opening date of the inter-Korean liaison office.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un agreed to set up the joint liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong after holding their first summit on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom.
The inter-Korean liaison office was widely forecast to be launched by the end of this month.
The spokesman said the opening date had been considered under smooth conditions such as the top U.S. diplomat's visit to Pyongyang and the third Moon-Kim summit, which the two Koreas agreed to hold in the DPRK's capital city by the end of September.
However, the opening date needed to be re-considered as new situations emerged, he noted.
Pompeo was originally scheduled to travel to Pyongyang this week, but U.S. President Donald Trump asked Pompeo not to go to the DPRK because he felt "we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Trump, however, tweeted that Pompeo looked forward to visiting the DPRK in the near future, saying he would like to "send my warmest regards and respect" to the DPRK leader and look forward to seeing him "soon."
The Blue House spokesman said South Korea was waiting for the DPRK's response to the changed situations, noting that the opening date of the joint liaison office should be discussed with the DPRK side.
