Foreign Affairs

North Korea Failed to Collaborate During Summit Plans Leading To Trump’s Decision To Cancel

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North Korea said President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel the summit between the U.S. and North Korea “does not meet the world’s desires,” according to Yonhap News Agency’s Thursday tweet.

Trump’s decision to cancel the meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinged on the fact the U.S. advance team was “stood up” by the regime after the two leaders planned to meet and discuss logistics of the summit previously set to take place on June 12 in Singapore, according to recent reports from the North Korean news agency.

“On Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo’s second trip to Pyongyang, North Korea promised that the two sides would meet in Singapore last week, to jointly work on the logistical preparations for the summit” —  which turned out to be an empty promise — a senior White House official told reporters at Yonhap News.

North Korea’s dereliction of their duties in coming to the table to plan the summit — coupled with fiery retaliation toward Vice President Mike Pence’s comments in a May 21 interview with Fox News that the U.S. “is not going to tolerate the regime in North Korea possessing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our allies” — factored in to Trump’s decision to halt summit negotiations. (RELATED: Trump Cancels U.S.-North Korea Summit)

Trump would not be pursuing the discussions with the regime, the president announced on Thursday and said “this missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history” in a Thursday letter to Kim Jong Un.

The summit with the U.S. is “urgent to resolve ‘grave hostile relations'” and expressed their “intent to talk with the U.S. anytime,” North Korea said.

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