Trump decided to call off the June 12th Singapore meeting with North Korea leader, Kim Jong-un, citing the leader’s “tremendous anger and open hostility”.
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he canceled the meeting planned with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, on June 12th in Singapore. During the past few weeks, the two leaders have exchanged fiery replies and it appears that this was the reason why Trump decided to cancel the summit.
In a letter Trump wrote to Kim, the US President explained: “Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.”
You can read the entire letter here:
https://www.scribd.com/document/380059617/Trump-Letter
After hearing the announcement, the officials in South Korea appeared blindsided.
Later that day, Trump said that the meeting could still happen and, as a result, North Korean officials issued a conciliatory response, claiming that they hope the US President would reconsider.
As the date for the summit that the entire globe was talking about was getting closer, officials from both countries staked out different positions regarding how quickly North Korea should renounce at its nuclear arsenal.
It appeared that the White House was ill-prepared for conducting a long negotiation, which is why they started to have second thoughts on this meeting. A few hours before Trump released his letter, one of the North Korea officials described Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy”. Additionally, the North threatened a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown”.
“I believe that this is a tremendous setback for North Korea and, indeed, for the world,” said Trump. “If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting.”
Worth mentioning is that only a few hours before Trump’s announcement, the North had engaged in blowing up one of the underground nuclear testing sites. The North officials were trying to “smooth” the way for the Trump-Kim meeting.
