With President Moon Jae - in ' s trip to the United States just around the corner , North Korea continues to add pressure on South Korea and the U . S . On May 19 , North Korea requested the repatriation of the North Korean employees of a North Korean restaurant in China who collectively fled North Korea in April 2016 , in the name of the spokesperson for the Central Committee of the North Korean Red Cross . Pyongyang continues to press South Korea from all directions following the condemnation of the ROK - US joint military exercise and the parliamentary speech by Thae Yong - ho , former North Korean deputy ambassador to the U . K . North Korea ' s attacks have exceeded expectations . The senior - level meeting of North and South Korean officials has been postponed and it will be hard to expect conversations over the hotline between the leaders of North and South Korea for the time being . This means that President Moon and U . S . President Donald Trump will have a lot of homework to do during the South Korea - U . S . summit scheduled on May 22 . North Korean attacks do not seem intended to threaten the latest developments toward denuclearization . According to satellite observations , North Korea is setting up an observatory for the demolition of the nuclear test site in Punggye - ri . North Korea may have refused to accept the list of South Korean reporters , but the building of the observatory means that it will demolish the nuclear test facilities next week according to schedule . Nevertheless , North Korea continues to take hardline measures nearly every day , raising an alarm in the negotiations on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula . North Korea has already declared that it would reconsider the summit with the U . S . if Washington forces Pyongyang to “ abandon nuclear weapons first , and receive compensations later . ” The U . S . , although trying to appease the North in a way , has clearly expressed its position that it can only be tolerant for so long . President Moon ' s unscheduled phone call with President Trump just two days before the summit shows how urgent the situation is . In this regard , the leaders of South Korea and the U . S . declaring once again their determination for denuclearization immediately after their twenty - minute phone conversation was an appropriate response . The first thing that President Moon , who will depart for the U . S . on May 21 , must do is to narrow the differences between Pyongyang and Washington . Most importantly , he should explain to Washington , so that they do not misunderstand the latest pressure by North Korea . The U . S . stated that it would not insist on a Libyan - style denuclearization , and President Trump also mentioned a guarantee of the safety of the North Korean regime and the South Korean - style economic development if an agreement is made on denuclearization . President Moon needs to persuade the U . S . to clarify the guarantee of the safety of the North Korean regime and the economic rewards that the U . S . will provide . U . S . criticism that Chinese President Xi Jinping is responsible for the abrupt change of attitude from Chairman Kim Jong - un is not appropriate . Such blaming of China will not help solve the North Korean nuclear problem . They should not forget that China is an important country with a role in denuclearization and the establishment of the peace system . It is not helpful to create a structure of confrontation between North Korea and China and South Korea and the U . S . As President Moon expressed , we should handle this issue carefully as if handling fine china , while working to overcome this difficult situation and to achieve denuclearization with bold ideas . ▶ 경향신문 SNS [ 트위터 ] [ 페이스북 ] ▶ [ 인기 무료 만화 보 기 ] © 경향신문 ( www . khan . co . kr ) , 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지