WASHINGTON- In what was a dramatic diplomatic turn for some, President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he is cancelling next month’s summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, he citied the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent statement by the North.
In a letter addressed to Kim released by the White House that, based on the statement, Trump felt it was “inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.” He added his own threat, saying while North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, “ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.”
The abrupt cancellation which seemed to be the case with numerous doubts over the past two weeks of the June 12 meeting. The withdraws by the US for now from what could of been an unprecedented summit that offered the prospect of a historic nuclear peace treaty or a complete diplomatic failure. No sitting American president has ever met with a North Korea leader.
In the statement Trump cited, after a top Foreign Ministry official Ms Choe referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy” for his comments on the North and said it was up to the US whether they will “meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.” This comment was the last straw for administration after a few weeks of unsavoury comments by North Korea.
Trump acknowledged the world was losing a “great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth.”
However he left the door open for the opportunity that the summit could be rescheduled, he said, “If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write.”
A White House official speaking in anonymity said it was incorrect to focus just on the “dummy” comment, saying that the nuclear threats meant that no summit could be successful under such circumstances.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, testifying on Capitol Hill, said North Korea had not meet their end of the bargain, not responding to repeated requests from US officials to discuss logistics for the summit. He told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the lack of responses was an additional reason for Trump’s decision.
Pompeo added the North’s attitude had changed significantly since he returned from a trip to Pyongyang earlier this month, where he met with Kim and oversaw the release of three Americans being held there.
Photo Credit- 680 News
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