by businessinsider.com — John Haltiwanger — The White House on Thursday cancelled the highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a letter to Kim, President Donald Trump wrote, “I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.” Trump said he’d been looking forward to the summit, but the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in the North Korean government’s recent statements ultimately inspired the president to cancel the meeting. Trump wrote that he felt “wonderful dialogue” was building up between him and Kim, adding, “ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters.” The president said he still hopes to meet the North Korean leader at some point in the future.
“If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write,” Trump said. “The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and weath. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.” ‘This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.’ This letter is emblematic of the massive shift in tone between Trump and Kim, who just months ago were engaged in a heated war of words. Over the course of 2017, the two leaders frequently traded threats and insults from across the globe, sometimes even taking jabs at each other’s appearance or mental stability. With that said, the cancellation of the summit could be viewed as a significant failure for Trump from a foreign policy standpoint. The Trump administration had hoped to use the meeting to pressure North Korea to agree to full denuclearization. North Korea initially seemed amenable to this but became more hostile in recent weeks, raising doubts anything susbtantive would come from meeting with Kim.
The North Korea government recently threatened to cancel the summit over joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, while also expressing concern over statements made by White House National Security Adviser John Bolton regarding how the US might approach the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. What’s more, the North Korean vice minister of foreign affairs on Thursday referred to Vice President Mike Pence as “stupid.” “As a person involved in US affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing from the mouth of the US vice president,” Choe Son-hui said in a statement reported by North Korean state news. “Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behaviour of the United States,” Choi added. This came not long after Pence suggested the situation with North Korea “may end like Libya,” seemingly alluding to the violent death of the infamous Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Trump administration had also pledged to help North Korea bolster its economy in exchange for denuclearization, but such promises apparently weren’t enough to alter Pyongyang’s tone and save the talks.
