Now, Donald Trump says summit with North Korea could still go ahead on June 12
The US president had called off the meeting a day earlier citing North Korea’s ‘tremendous anger’ and ‘hostility’.
United States President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration is now in talks with North Korea and hinted that the June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may take place, reported AFP.
Trump had called off the summit on Thursday, citing hostility. On Friday, North Korea said it was still open to resolving problems with the US “at any time in any way” despite Trump’s decision to call off the summit.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said at the White House. “We are talking to them now. It could even be the 12th,” he said in reference to the date set for the summit. He termed North Korea’s latest statement as “warm and productive”.
Very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2018
A day earlier, Trump, in a letter to Kim, had blamed Pyongyang’s “tremendous anger” and “open hostility” for his decision to cancel. The development came hours after North Korea announced it had dismantled its nuclear bomb test site in Punngye-ri.
The White House said a “trail of broken promises” by the North Koreans, including keeping a team of US officials waiting in Singapore for a preparatory meeting, forced Trump to cancel the meeting with Kim, reported PTI.
Earlier this month, North Korea had threatened to cancel the summit following a US joint military exercise with South Korea. Tensions between the US and North Korea escalated in 2017 after Pyongyang stepped up efforts to boost its nuclear weapons programme. The summit in Singapore was aimed at the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
