- The White House on Thursday canceled the highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
- President Donald Trump said that he had been looking forward to the summit but that “tremendous anger and open hostility” in the North Korean government’s recent statements compelled the president to cancel the meeting.
- The meeting was set to occur on June 12 in Singapore.
The White House on Thursday canceled President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Kim.
Trump said that he had been looking forward to the summit but that “tremendous anger and open hostility” in the North Korean government’s recent statements ultimately inspired the president to cancel the meeting.
Trump wrote that he felt "wonderful dialogue" was building up between him and Kim, adding, "ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters." The president said he still hoped to meet the North Korean leader at some point in the future.
"If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write," Trump said. "The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history."
'This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history'
This letter is emblematic of the massive shift in tone between Trump and Kim, who just months ago were engaged in a heated war of words. Over the course of 2017, the two leaders frequently traded threats and insults from across the globe, sometimes even taking jabs at each other's appearance or mental stability.
With that said, the cancellation of the summit could be viewed as a significant failure for Trump from a foreign-policy standpoint. The Trump administration had hoped to use the meeting to pressure North Korea to agree to give up its nuclear weapons.
North Korea initially seemed amenable to this but became more hostile in recent weeks, raising doubts anything substantive would come from meeting with Kim.
The North Korean government recently threatened to cancel the summit over joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, also expressing concern over statements made by the White House national security adviser, John Bolton, regarding how the US might approach the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
What's more, the North Korean vice minister of foreign affairs on Thursday referred to comments made by Vice President Mike Pence as "stupid."
"As a person involved in US affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing from the mouth of the US vice president," Choe Son Hui said in a statement reported by North Korean state news.
"Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States," Choi added.
This came not long after Pence suggested the situation with North Korea may "end like Libya," whose leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed by rebels in 2011.
The Trump administration had also pledged to help North Korea bolster its economy in exchange for denuclearization, but such promises apparently weren't enough to alter Pyongyang's tone and save the talks.
It's not clear what will happen moving forward or how North Korea will respond.
The rogue state conducted a slew of missile tests in 2017 but agreed to cease such activities and dismantle its primary nuclear test site as part of recent diplomatic efforts with the US and South Korea. It also recently released three US citizens it had detained.
North Korea is believed to have as many as 60 nuclear weapons, and it could conceivably resume missile and nuclear testing if the diplomatic process falls apart after the cancellation of the summit.
In his letter to Kim, the president warned of the US military's "massive" nuclear capabilities.
"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 wrote.