'I told you so!': No deal summit no surprise to N. Korean defectors

The abrupt end to the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un came as no surprise to North Korean defectors in the south, with one saying simply: "I told you so!"

The defectors, who now live in Seoul, chatted and laughed at the office of North Korea Free Radio as they awaited news from the US president and the leader of their former homeland.

But they quickly fell silent as it became clear the talks were deadlocked.

Cha Ri-hyuk, 33, told AFP at the radio station -- which is staffed by defectors and broadcasts into North Korea -- that he was not shocked by the no deal outcome.

"I knew that Kim Jong Un would never give up the nukes. If the two countries were to make an agreement, I think they would have done it in Singapore last year," added Cha, who left North Korea in 2013.

Jo Young-hwa, aged 39, who defected a year earlier, said his countrymen "don't care" about the summits.

"Whenever I talk to them in the North, they are not interested. They don't bother trying to learn anything