President Donald Trump called off his planned June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in light of what the president called "the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed" in Pyongyang's most recent statements about the United States.
"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," the letter from Trump reads. "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."
Markets in the U.S. fell in the wake of the announcement, with the S&P 500 closing down 0.20% at 2727.76; the Nasdaq also lost ground on the news but recovered to finish off just 0.01% at 7424.43. Yields on U.S. 10-year Treasurys also slipped to a low of 2.953% after spending most of the morning above 3%. By 4 p.m. ET, the yields were about 2.973%. Yields fall as bond prices rise.,
The cancellation follows comments from a senior North Korean official who called U.S. Vice President Mike Pence a "political dummy" in comparing North Korea to Libya, referring to Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi's decision to set aside his nuclear ambition for sanctions relief in the early 2000s. Qaddafi was overthrown and killed by revolutionary forces in 2011.
"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," Trump said in his letter. "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."
Stood up in Singapore
A senior White House official told reporters the U.S. made good faith efforts to meet with North Korea, but a series of broken promises preceded the president's letter.
"The White House sent its deputy chief of staff, who leads White House planning in advance of presidential visits, and his advance team to Singapore," the official said. "They waited and waited. The North Koreans never showed up. The North Koreans didn't tell us anything. They simply stood us up."
While North Korea claimed on May 24 that it destroyed one of its nuclear test sites, the White House is not certain that the facility is completely unusable. According to the official, North Korea promised both the United States and South Korea that international experts and officials would witness and verify the demolition.
"Instead journalists were invited, and we will not have forensic evidence that much was accomplished," the official said. "It's possible that the tunnels were detonated in a way that will still allow them to be used in the future."
Trump said earlier that it was still possible for a summit to happen in June. The official pointed to the calendar and explained that the lack of follow through from North Korea cost a lot of planning time.
"The main point, I suppose, is that the ball is in North Korea's court right now. There's really not a lot of time," the official said, adding that the White House, State Department and other agencies worked for months to set an agenda. "June 12 is in 10 minutes."
Despite the broken promises highlighted by the administration, the official said Trump "is willing to pursue diplomacy as far as it can possibly be pursued," with North Korea.
"The president wants to give every opportunity for the right outcome by North Korea by its people and by the United States and our allies," the official said. "They don't make it easy."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a House panel May 23 that financial assistance was a key priority for Kim in exchange for denuclearization.
"He has shared candidly that he understands that economic growth for his people, the well-being of his people, depends on a strategic shift, and we hope he's prepared to make that," Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "He made clear it was important to him that when that time came, when those objectives had been achieved, that he in return would receive economic help from America in the form of private sector businesses, knowledge, know-how, from other perhaps, contributions, foreign assistance and the like."
