Trump Pulls Out of Summit Meeting With Kim Jong-un Amid North Korea's 'Hostility'
US President Donald Trump has pulled out of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, sending a warning to Pyongyang in the process. Trump has cited "tremendous anger" and "open hostility" from North Korea as the reasons for canceling the meeting.
This new development followed several days in which Trump has been giving signs that the preparations for the historic summit were not going so well, as the Independent pointed out. Earlier, White House officials have confirmed that they will be pressing on with negotiations for the talks even as North Korea started anew with hostile rhetoric after a remark by US National Security Adviser John Bolton.
A senior administration official noted that North Korea displayed "a profound lack of good faith" in several occasions during the weeks leading up to the meeting, which was supposed to take place on June 12.
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Among those promised broken by the North Korean regime was a supposed meeting between the deputy chief of staff and North Korean diplomats in Singapore to prepare for the summit. "The North Koreans didn't show up. They simply stood us up," the official said, as quoted by BBC News.
In a letter to North Korea that has been made public, Trump implied that there's a possibility of another meeting, despite pulling out if this upcoming summit. "I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Trump wrote in the letter.
"Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties but to the detriment of the world, will not take place," he said in his message, before adding what is likely a threat to Pyongyang.
"You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used," Trump added, before veering back to a reconciliatory tone when he felt that "a wonderful dialogue" was being built up between the two sides.
"Ultimately it is only that dialogue that matters. Someday, I look very much forward to meeting you," he noted in his message, adding his gratitude at the end for the release of the hostages and returning them to their families.
In closing, he pointed out how the world and North Korea lost out on a chance for peace and "great prosperity and wealth," urging Kim Jong-un to call or write him should he change his mind. He called the canceled meeting "a truly sad moment in history" as well.
While his letter opened a possibility for the meeting, White House officials note that putting back the June 12 summit back on the table will be almost impossible at this late juncture. Meanwhile, Pyongyang expressed regret over the "unexpected" decision.
