US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were planning to meet in Singapore on June 12, and, until just a few days ago, everything appeared to be on track.
How did we get here?
Up until about two weeks ago, things seemed to be moving ahead as planned. The two sides had announced that the historic summit (a sitting US President has never met a North Korean leader) would take place June 12 in Singapore.
The first sign something was amiss was on May 15, when North Korea abruptly canceled a high-level meeting with the South Koreans. Pyongyang said it was angry about joint military drills between the US and South Korea.
The rhetoric reached fever pitch Thursday when a high-level North Korean Foreign Ministry official called US Vice President Mike Pence a „political dummy“ for repeating a reference to the „Libya model“ with respect to talks with North Korea.
The Libya model refers to the agreement Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi made to give up his nuclear weapons, only to be toppled by Washington-backed rebels years later. In the same bombastic statement, Pyongyang also threatened a nuclear showdown.
US officials said the personal attack on Pence and threat of nuclear war was the final straw.
Trump canceled the summit Thursday in a letter to Kim, citing the hostile rhetoric anger and amid concerns over North Korea’s commitment to give up its nuclear weapons.
How did North and South Korea react to Trump’s decision?
South Korea’s President, Moon Jae-in (who was in Washington to talk North Korea with Trump last week) called an emergency meeting in the middle of the night once Trump canceled.
