'99.9%' chance Trump-Kim meet to take place in Singapore: S Korea

A top South Korean official has said despite fresh tensions on the Korean Peninsula, there is a "99.9 percent chance", that the summit between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un will take place in Singapore on June 12.

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, chief of the presidential National Security Office Chung Eui-yong said on Monday, "We believe there is a 99.9 percent chance the North Korea-US summit (set for June 12 in Singapore) will be held as scheduled. But we're just preparing for many different possibilities."

Commenting on some American media reports that suggested the US President and his officials were skeptical of the outcome of the Trump-Kim meet, considering North Korea's unpredictable attitude, Chung stated that officials from both South Korea and the US have not felt such skepticism so far, according to The Korea Times.

Last week, North Korea called off the scheduled high-level talks with South Korea and further threatened to call off the summit talks with the US.

Pyongyang blamed the ongoing South Korea-US joint air combat drills called 'Max Thunder' for "reducing" the possibility of a summit.

Asked about Pyongyang's sudden change of stance, Chung replied, "We are trying to understand the North's position."

On a related note, North and South Korea held a historic summit last month at the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), wherein the two leaders - Kim and President Moon Jae-in agreed to end hostilities, sign a peace treaty to officially end the 65-year-old Korean War and achieve complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.