President Donald Trump has called off the summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. From The Hill:
“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,” Trump wrote in a letter to Kim.
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Trump said that he believes “this is a tremendous setback for North Korea” and the world. He spoke to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and stated that our powerful military “is ready if necessary.” He hopes “positive things will be taking place with respect to North Korea,” but if that doesn’t happen, “we are more ready than we have ever been before.”
Trump also said that our allies South Korea and Japan “are not only ready should foolish or reckless acts be taken by North Korea, but they are willing to shoulder much of the cost of any financial burden, any of the costs associated by the United States in operations if an unfortunate situation is forced upon us.”
He hopes North Korea will open up to dialogue, but until then, we will keep sanctions on the hermit kingdom:
“All of the Korean people, North and South, deserve to be able to live together in harmony, prosperity and peace. That bright and beautiful future can only happen when the threat of nuclear weapons is removed. No way it can happen otherwise. If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting. In the meantime, our very strong sanctions, by far the strongest sanctions ever imposed, and maximum pressure campaign will continue as it has been continuing.”
The door remains open for a summit to happen between America and North Korea.
On Tuesday, as he sat next to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump told the media he is “a little disappointed” with Kim after the dictator’s latest trip to China. From Fox News:
“There was a difference when Kim Jong Un left China the second time,” said Trump at an appearance alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in.”I can’t say that I’m happy about it.”
North Korea threatened to cancel the summit on Thursday and described Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy after an interview with Fox News:
“But when Kim Jong Un through the South Koreans reached out and said he would suspend his nuclear testing, suspend his ballistic testing, and be willing to achieve complete denuclearization through talks in exchange for a meeting with President Trump, this president readily said yes,” Pence told Fox News.”As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president,” North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Choe Sun Hui, said in a statement released by state media, according to The Wall Street Journal.Choe said the U.S. “has asked for the dialogue” with the North but is now “misleading the public opinion as if we have invited them to sit with us.””We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us,” Choe reportedly said.
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