North Korea standoff
Fed-up Don zaps summit – & NoKo blinks
President Trump on Thursday abruptly canceled his much-ballyhooed summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un — and warned that the US military was ready for war if the regime made any “foolish or reckless” moves.
In a letter to Kim released by the White House, Trump said that, based on North Korea’s bellicose language this week, he believed it was “inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.”
Some of that language included mocking Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy.”
Trump also asserted that while the North touted its nuclear capabilities, “ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used” — a remark reminiscent of his boast that his nuclear button was bigger than Kim’s.
A senior administration official told reporters during a background briefing that Trump “dictated every word of the letter himself” and that the United States had sent a delegation to North Korea last week for a meeting but “the North Koreans simply stood us up.”
Trump ordered his staff to release the letter without telling global allies because he was worried about leaks, The Wall Street Journal reported.
His sudden back-out surprised North Korea — and led to unusually conciliatory language from Pyongyang.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said Friday that North Korea remained open to talks with Trump “at any time in any way.”
“We had hoped a ‘ Trump-style solution’ would be a wise way to relieve worries from both sides, meet our demands and realistically resolve problems,” Gwan said in a statement read on state media. “To announce the summit is canceled was a surprise for us and we couldn’t help but feel it was a deep shame.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in was also caught off guard.
He called the cancellation of the June 12 Singapore summit “very regrettable and unfortunate” and urged the two leaders to talk to each other.
The sudden end of what would have been an unprecedented summit dimmed hopes of a nuclear peace treaty any time soon.
“The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth,” Trump wrote. “This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.”
In the North Korean statement that Trump cited, a top Foreign Ministry official insulted Pence for warning that North Korea could become another Libya.
A second White House official said the threat of a nuclear conflict was a major factor in Trump walking away from the summit.
“The North Koreans literally threatened nuclear war in the statement released last night. No summit could be successful under these circumstances,” the official said.
But Trump left the door open to rescheduling the summit. “If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write,” Trump told Kim in unusually personal language.
The president later repeated his warning that the US and its Asian allies were ready to respond if the North were to take military action.
“I’ve spoken to [Defense Secretary] General [James] Mattis and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world that has been greatly enhanced recently, is ready if necessary,” Trump said.
“Likewise, I have spoken to South Korea and Japan, and they 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 such an unfortunate situation is forced upon us.”
Looks like President Trump just called Kim Jong-un’s bluff. Trump on Thursday abruptly called off next month’s scheduled historic summit in Singapore, calling it “inappropriate” in the face of the North Korean leader’s “tremendous anger and open hostility.”
Earlier in the week, North Korea, apparently convinced that Trump is preoccupied with winning a Nobel Peace Prize, goaded him by suggesting he would “be recorded as a more tragic and unsuccessful president than his predecessors, far from his initial ambition to make unprecedented success.”
But Trump’s cancellation letter turned the tables by thanking Kim for his “time, patience and effort” and inviting him to “call me or write” if he changes his mind.
And in response to Pyongyang’s overnight threat that Washington would face a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown” and “an appalling tragedy” if it pulled out of the summit, Trump pointedly warned: “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.”
Good for him. On every level, it was the wise thing to do and made clear he meant it when he said he was prepared to walk away.
As it is, he’s already made history by offering Kim what he most wanted — the chance to sit down face to face and negotiate with an American president.
But Team Trump wants rapid (a year or less) and total denuclearization, with sanctions relief coming only when North Korea fulfills its obligations. Kim wants a much longer process that starts with sanctions relief and de facto recognition as a nuclear state. That is, what the last prez gave Iran. But Kim’s shakedown strategy (which Pyongyang used with past presidents) just failed — because it met a president who refused to take the bait.