Trump cancels talks with warning to Kim
President issues military warning after surprise cancellation of June summit with Kim Jong-un
Donald Trump threatened Kim Jong-un with military action as he cancelled the summit in Singapore that had been planned for next month. The president said the US military was “ready if necessary” to react should North Korea take any “foolish or reckless acts”, as he cancelled the talks in an open letter. Mr Trump wrote: “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.”
Ben Riley-smith and
Rozina Sabur in Washington
Nicola Smith in Taipei
DONALD TRUMP threatened Kim Jong-un with military action yesterday, returning to bellicose rhetoric as he abruptly cancelled their June 12 summit in Singapore.
The US president said the American military was “ready if necessary” to react with its allies should North Korea take any “foolish or reckless acts”, as he formally pulled the plug on the summit in an extraordinary open letter.
In a letter released by the White House, to many’s surprise, Mr Trump wrote to Kim: “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.”
North Korea said last night that it was still willing to talk to the US. Kim Kyegwan, North Korea’s first vice-foreign minister, said: “The abrupt announcement of the cancellation of the meeting is unexpected for us and we cannot but find it extremely regrettable.”
After relations appeared to have deteriorated in the past week, Mr Trump issued a threat, writing: “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.”
He added that “this missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history” and appeared open to the talks being rearranged, saying: “If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write.”
Mr Trump later said he had talked to James Mattis, the US defence secretary, and the US joint chiefs of staff, adding “our military … is ready if necessary”.
The announcement appeared to blindside South Korea, with Moon Jaein, the president, summoning his top aides to a late-night meeting and later expressing “deep regret”. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, declined to say whether South Korea or Japan – both American allies – had been told of the cancellation before it was made public.
The move follows the deterioration in North Korean-us relations over the past fortnight after months of diplomatic improvements. The trigger for Mr Trump’s letter appeared to be criticism of Mike Pence, the US vice-president, by a North Korean official.
Mr Pence said in an interview that the Libyan model – where Muammar Gaddafi gave up his nuclear programme in the early 2000s – would only be used “if Kim Jong-un doesn’t make a deal”.
The Libyan comparison had previously angered North Korea given Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, was eventually toppled and killed by a mob in 2011.
Choe Son-hui, a senior North Korean official, reacted yesterday by calling Mr Pence a “political dummy”. However, Mr Trump’s decision to pull the meeting had been developing for days. North Korea last week publicly rejected Mr Trump’s stance that the regime should unilaterally denuclearise before economic sanctions were lifted.
Mr Pompeo said yesterday that America had reached out to North Korea to discuss details for the summit but had not had a response. Last night a
senior White House official, giving more details about the reason, said North Korea had displayed a “profound lack of good faith” in recent weeks. The official revealed that senior figures had gone to Singapore for scoping talks with the North Koreans but their opposite numbers never turned up.