US President Donald Trump has abruptly called off a planned visit next week by Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the lack of support from China for the process due to trade tensions.

Trump's decision to call off the visit came just a day after Pompeo had announced that the newly appointed special representative for North Korea Steve Biegun and he will be traveling to North Korea next week to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective. "I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Trump tweeted yesterday.