FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Trump Cancels Summit with Kim Jong-Un in Cordial Letter, and North Responds
May 24, 2018 (EIRNS)—President Trump cancelled his scheduled June 12 summit with North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un today in a highly cordial letter which invited Kim to reconsider in the future. The President said he was cancelling because of the “tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your recent statement.”
Trump was referring to a statement issued by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, responding to Vice President Mike Pence.
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that North Korea’s attitude had hardened since his trip there two weeks ago, and that North Korea had refused all offers for pre-summit consultations.
In response to Trump, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan issued a statement carried by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), South Korean Yonhap agency reports. “We express our willingness to sit down face-to-face with the U.S. and resolve issues any time and in any format,” he said.
Kim said that the U.S.’s unilateral decision to cancel the upcoming talks demonstrates how serious the animosity between the Pyongyang and the U.S. is, which he said underlines the urgent need for a summit between the leaders of the two countries.
“Our commitment to doing our best for the sake of peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula remains unchanged, and we are open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the U.S.,”
Kim Kye-gwan said.
Before Trump cancelled the summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s NTV that Russia would be in contact with the North Korean government to help the negotiations process. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit North Korea in the near future in response to their invitation. Some wire stories report that this visit will occur on May 31.
