Welp.
I'm going to SK for work soon.
President Donald Trump will not meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Unnext month, he announced in a letter to Kim released by the White House Thursday morning, scrapping plans for what would have been a historic diplomatic summit.
"I was very much looking forward to being there with you. 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," Trump wrote. "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."
Trump and Kim were scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12, for what would have been the first face-to-face meeting between a US and North Korean leader.
The decision ends months of diplomatic advances between the US and North Korea that Trump repeatedly heralded as the likely precursor to a historic peace deal and the denuclearization of North Korea. Now, the détente between Washington and Pyongyang appears in jeopardy, with a return to the bellicose rhetoric that has defined the US-North Korea relationship for much of Trump's presidency once again peering over the horizon.
In his letter, Trump signaled a return to the bitter nuclear back-and-forth that colored his early interactions with Kim before the diplomatic opening.
"You talk about your nuclear capabilities," Trump wrote in his letter to Kim, "but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used."
Still, Trump signaled direct talks with Kim could still be in the offing, writing that he "felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me" and that he looks forward to meeting Kim "some day."
I'm going to SK for work soon.