A senior official at a Washington-based think tank said that suspending joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea was not discussed during last month’s impromptu meeting between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea.

In an op-ed published by Fox News on Sunday, Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest, said that the apparent belief in Pyongyang that U.S. President Donald Trump promised to halt the exercises is rooted in a “simple misunderstanding.” 

Kazianis said he spoke with multiple White House and South Korean officials who said they have "no knowledge of any promise by President Trump to suspend the joint military exercises."

A day earlier, Secretary to the South Korean President for Peace Planning Choi Jong-kun also rejected the idea that conducting the exercises would breach an agreement made between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Choi said that as far as he knows, no such promise was made and that Washington would have consulted with Seoul had Trump agreed to suspend the exercises.