U.S. President Donald J. Trump sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Thursday announcing their planned June 12 landmark summit in Singapore would not take place.
Here is a copy of the text:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
We greatly appreciate your time, patience and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in Singapore. We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant. I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting. Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place. 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.
I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.
If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write. The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.
Sincerely yours,
Donald J. Trump
President of the United States of America
The decision came as North Korea said it had “completely” dismantled its nuclear test site, in a carefully choreographed move portrayed by the isolated regime as a goodwill gesture ahead of the Singapore summit.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the summit was scrapped because a “successful outcome” did not seem possible.
“I don’t believe in that sense that we’re in a position to believe that there could be a successful outcome. Over the past many days, we have received no response to our inquiries from them,” Pompeo told U.S. lawmakers.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” with the decision.
“I am deeply concerned by the cancellation of the planned meeting in Singapore between the President of the United States and the leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea,” Guterres said as he presented a new U.N. disarmament agenda in Geneva.
“I urge the parties to continue their dialogue to find a path to a peaceful and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” he added.