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The U.S. military is “ready if necessary” and “greatly enhanced,” President Donald Trump said Thursday, this after he cancelled the June 12 summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
“We are more ready than we ever have been before,” Trump said, saying he spoke to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
President Trump says he’s spoken to Sec. Mattis and that the U.S. military is “ready if necessary” after cancelling North Korea summit: “We are more ready than we have ever been before.” https://t.co/mT5oen5Kri pic.twitter.com/XpD5yZ3Ues
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 24, 2018
Trump said cancelling the summit was a “great setback for the world,” and he warned Kim Jong Un from taking “foolish or reckless action,” CNBC reported.
President Trump says the US is “more ready than we have ever been before,” warning that the US, South Korea and Japan are all ready should North Korea take any “foolish and reckless acts” https://t.co/WbvCfQQUJb pic.twitter.com/AdBGmGz1CX
— CNN (@CNN) May 24, 2018
However, it’s “possible” the summit could take place after June 12 or later on, Trump also said.
“Nobody should be anxious. We have to get it right,” Trump added.
Earlier in the day, Trump canceled the upcoming summit in Singapore with Kim Jong Un.
Sadly, I was forced to cancel the Summit Meeting in Singapore with Kim Jong Un. pic.twitter.com/rLwXxBxFKx
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2018
The White House issued a letter to Kim on Thursday, which read:
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. l 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
North Korea on Wednesday had again threatened to cancel the upcoming June 12 summit in Singapore with President Trump and Kim Jong Un if the United States keeps up “evil acts.”
Then on Thursday, North Korea claimed it had dismantled and destroyed its only known nuclear testing site.
Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui issued a statement that was released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on what is Thursday morning there, Wednesday evening local time. The statement indicated the summit could be postponed or even possibly canceled.
Fox News reported that South Korean state media said North Korea was threatening to cancel the summit if the U.S. continues “unlawful and outrageous acts.”
“As a person involved in U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president,” Choe said, referring to statements Vice President Mike Pence made comparing North Korea to Libya.
“We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us. Whether the U.S. will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision … of the U.S.,” Choe said.
Choe was previously in charge of North Korean relations with the U.S.
President Trump earlier this week said the U.S.-North Korea summit could end up taking place later than expected.
There’s a “substantial chance” the summit won’t happen in June, Trump said, and that it “could happen later.”
Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday to discuss the summit, which has been somewhat up in the air after North Korea last week threatened to cancel it.
“If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later,” Trump said of the summit, while hosting Moon.
The President said the summit “may not work out for June 12,” which could suggest a potential delay.
It could also mean the summit could be canceled without being immediately rescheduled.
The Trump-Kim summit is technically slated for June 12 in Singapore.
North Korea last week threatened to cancel the much-anticipated summit with the United States, and it already cancelled high-level meetings with South Korea, because South Korea and the U.S. conducted military exercises, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. North Korea views such military drills as practice for invasion of its country.
South Korea asked not to participate in the military drills, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, adding that the U.S. has not commented publicly on South Korea’s decision at this time.
The U.S. cancelled a planned military exercise with B-52 bombers and South Korean planes last week over South Korea’s worries that the exercise could jeopardize the upcoming summit with President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.
The Trump Administration and military officials had said the military exercises were going to proceed as planned.
South Korean news agency Yonhap had reported that the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the Max Thunder drills between the U.S. and South Korean air forces “are a rehearsal for invasion of the North and a provocation amid warming inter-Korean ties.”
North Korean state media KCNA had released the following statement:
“This exercise targeting us, which is being carried out across South Korea, is a flagrant challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration and an intentional military provocation running counter to the positive political development on the Korean Peninsula. The United States will also have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-U.S. summit in light of this provocative military ruckus jointly conducted with the South Korean authorities.”
North Korean state media KCNA recently reported on a press release from the North Korean regime that officials have scheduled a ceremony to dismantle the country’s nuclear site on May 23, and they are inviting international press to attend in a rare opening up of the regime unlike the world has ever seen before.
This development comes days after North Korea released three American detainees to Secretary of State Pompeo on his second visit to the isolated regime in weeks, and President Trump announcing that the highly anticipated summit with Kim Jong Un will be held in Singapore on June 12.
