After weeks of receiving and even appearing to encourage chants of “Nobel” ahead of a planned historic meeting with North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un, President Trump on Thursday abruptly canceled the June 12 summit. His withdrawal comes after days of wavering by North Korea and then the United States on attending the summit. North Korea issued a statement Wednesday saying the United States should “meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.” A North Korean official also called Vice President Pence a “political dummy” after Pence said in an interview the North Korea negotiations could "end like the Libya model ended” if no deal was made.
Trump hints at all that in his letter to Kim. Read it below with our annotations. Click on the highlighted text to view each annotation.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
May 24 2018
His Excellency Kim Jong Un
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Pyongyang
Dear Mr. Chairman:
We greatly appreciate your time, patience, and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in Singapore. We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant. 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. 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. 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.
I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.
If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write. 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.
Sincerely yours,
Donald J. Trump
President of the United States of America