Trump called off the
unprecedented meeting, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, after months of
diplomatic progress had silenced bellicose rhetoric from the two sides and
eased fears of a return to war.
“North Korea was in the process
of doing everything that had been demanded of it. They even detonated their
nuclear test site,” said Eugene Lim, a 29-year-old office worker in Seoul.
“Trump has no interest in peace
in our country. Why can’t he just let us, the two Koreas, live in peace?”
North Korea on Thursday
“completely dismantled” its Punggye-ri nuclear test ground to “ensure the
transparency of discontinuance of nuclear tests”, after blowing up tunnels at
the site.
The detonation, which took place
in the presence of dozens of international journalists but no independent
experts, came after Kim Jong Un pledged to cease all nuclear and long-range
missile tests on April.
Kim also released three American
prisoners as a gesture of goodwill.
Dozens of university students and
women’s rights activists protested in different rallies in Seoul on Friday to
denounce Trump, with some punching his face printed on a picket sign and
tearing his photograph apart.
Kim Dong-ho, a 38-year-old
employee at a blockchain company, said it wasn’t right to isolate North Korea
again when it was making efforts to join the international community.
“After all, those of us living on
the Korean peninsula suffer the consequences of your action, you Yankee!,” Kim
said.
Trump also warned North Korea the
U.S. military was ready in the event of any reckless acts, and when asked if
the summit cancellation increased the risk of war, he replied: “We’ll see what
happens.”
South Korean President Moon
Jae-in, who worked hard to help set up the summit and urged Trump at a White
House meeting on Tuesday not to let a rare opportunity slip away, said he was
“perplexed” by the cancellation.
North Korea said it remained open
to resolving issues with the United States, “regardless of ways, at any time”.
South Koreans’ perception of
North Korea, especially those in their 20s and 30s, has visibly softened after
Kim Jong Un and Moon pledged no more war in their inter-Korean summit in April,
according to several polls.
A Gallup Korea survey in early
May suggested 88 per cent of South Koreans thought that the inter-Korean summit
held was a success, while only five percent said it was a failure.
The remainder declined to
comment.
A survey of 106 university
students at Kookmin University in Seoul showed 57.3 percent had a positive
image of Kim Jong Un after the summit, compared to 19.8 percent beforehand.
North and South Korea are
technically still at war because their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in a truce,
not a peace treaty.
The United States stations 28,500
troops in the South, a legacy of the war.
“It feels like Trump just knocked
down all the efforts the two Koreas have put forward for the U.S.-North Korea
summit.
“For me, it feels like North
Korea is more of a normal country, saying it would give the U.S. time and
wait,” said Yun Hae-ri, a 25-year-old office worker.
“I don’t think Trump is doing the
right thing if he wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Other South Koreans had concerns
closer to home.
“What I’m most worried about are
my stock holdings,” said Chon Jin-young, a 25-year-old Seoul office worker. “I
hope they’re not hammered too much.
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