Blue House says Bolton's memoir considerably distorts facts

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea's presidential Blue House said Monday that the upcoming memoir by former US National Security Adviser John Bolton considerably distorts facts on discussions between the leaders of the two Koreas and the United States.

Chung Eui-yong, top national security adviser for ROK President Moon Jae-in, said in a statement that the memoir is what Bolton saw from his own viewpoint about consultations and relevant situations between the leaders of the ROK, the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"(The memoir) does not reflect accurate facts and also distorts a large portion of facts considerably," Chung said in the statement, according to the Blue House.

Bolton's book is scheduled for publication on Tuesday, but media outlets reported on excerpts.

Chung said the unilateral publication of consultations made based on mutual trust between the governments is in violation of the basic principle of diplomacy and can severely damage the trust necessary for future negotiations.

He anticipated that the US government would take an appropriate measure to prevent such a dangerous case.

Top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held the first-ever DPRK-US summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for the corresponding measures.

Kim and Trump met again in Vietnam for their second summit in February 2019, but it ended without agreement.

They had an impromptu meeting in June of the year at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, accompanied by ROK President Moon.

During the summits process, Bolton had been the counterpart of Chung, the Blue House national security adviser.