North Korea yet to comment on Trump-Kim meeting plan: South Korea

South Korea says it has not yet received an official response from the North about a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which the American president has said is being planned for May.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said on Monday that Pyongyang was apparently silent over the upcoming summit to “cautiously” formulate a response.

“North Korea seems to need more time and take a cautious approach in setting its stance,” said the ministry’s spokesman Baik Tae-hyun.

He also said Pyongyang was also seeking to set up a committee to prepare for an inter-Korean summit, which would be the third between the two Koreas, following ones in 2000 and 2007.

Another awkward Trump moment?

North Korean media have reported on a recent visit by a senior delegation from South Korea, but they have reportedly made no coverage of the summit plans between Trump and Kim or South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Trump almost immediately agreed to meet with Kim without precondition by the end of May only hours after being briefed by the South Korean officials who had visited Pyongyang in Washington on Thursday. He even took to Twitter the following day writing that a deal with Pyongyang was “very much in the making.”

According to US media, Trump made the decision without consulting key figures in his administration. White House officials said later that a meeting with the North’s leader would not take place unless Pyongyang took “concrete actions.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened the North with military action to stop its missile and nuclear programs. He has also in the past attacked Kim with personal insults.