WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is canceling the planned June 12 summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility" in a recent statement from North Korea.

Trump says in a letter to Kim released Thursday by the White House that based on the statement, he felt it was "inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting."

The president says the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, "but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used."

This is a developing story. Stay with KSAT 12 both online and on-air for more information. </s> Amid the widespread diplomatic uncertainty caused by Donald Trump abruptly canceling the upcoming US-North Korea summit yesterday (May 24), one key voice has remained remarkably calm: that of the top US military commander on the Korean peninsula.

General Vincent Brooks, who commands 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, said today (May 25) in Seoul, “I am not worried about it because the opportunity is not lost. It is just delayed.”

Brooks also leads the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command, as well as the United Nations Command.

Trump earlier this week cast doubts on the summit happening as planned on June 12 in Singapore, but he said, “Someday, a date will absolutely happen.”

His decision to cancel appeared to happen so abruptly that there was not sufficient time to warn allies ahead of the announcement. South Korean president Moon Jae-in said he was “very perplexed” by the decision, and other world leaders expressed disappointment with it.

North Korea itself seemed taken aback. A report by the state-controlled KCNA news agency struck an almost gentle tone. First vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan expressed “great regret” for Trump’s decision, and said North Korea remains “broad-minded and open all the time” for further discussions with the US.

The KCNA piece even seemed to flatter Trump, stating of the summit: “We have inwardly highly appreciated President Trump for having made the bold decision, which any other U.S. presidents dared not, and made efforts for such a crucial event as the summit.”

But many felt the Trump administration was rushing into a summit too quickly, with insufficient preparation. It wasn’t even clear that the two sides meant the same thing by “denuclearization.” Trump agreed to the meeting abruptly earlier this year, taking many by surprise.

Robert Kelly, a professor of political science at South Korea’s Pusan National University, told CNN earlier this week that

 “the Trump administration is going into [the summit] very, very quickly.” He said the most sensible solution would be to postpone the meeting for six to eight months, and allow negotiators to “hammer out a framework to narrow the differences between the two sides.”

The tone in today’s KCNA release was in marked contrast to the angry statements by North Korea earlier this week that apparently prompted Trump to cancel the summit. If Trump was aiming to change the North Korean tone by canceling the meeting—with an eye toward later rescheduling it—that gamble might have paid off.

Brooks said it’s “too early to quit” on the idea of a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea. And, he added, it might have been “too early to celebrate.” </s> US President Donald Trump has cancelled the planned June 12 summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility" in a recent statement from North Korea.

In a letter to the dictator released by the White House, Trump said, he felt it was "inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting" based on the comments.

The president also said the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities "but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used".

He said in the letter that the world is losing a "great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth" now that the summit has been cancelled.

Trump added: "This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history."

In the statement cited by Trump, the North Korean government referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a "political dummy" and said it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

Trump told Kim "please do not hesitate to call me or write" should he change his mind about a one-on-one meeting. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump canceling his planned summit with North Korea (all times local):

A Republican senator often critical of Donald Trump says the president “made the right call” in canceling a summit with North Korea’s leader.

Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska says Kim Jong Un is a “murderous despot and habitual liar.” Sasse is often critical of Trump but is siding with the president on his decision Thursday to pull out of the summit that had been planned for June 12 in Singapore.

Trump cited recent aggressive statements from Kim’s government for his decision to cancel the meeting.

Sasse adds in a statement that if North Korea wants diplomacy, “it should know that half-measures and spin about its nuclear program won’t cut it.”

Sasse is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,

The U.N. chief says he is “deeply concerned” by the cancellation of the planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.

Antonio Guterres told an audience at the University of Geneva on Thursday that he was urging the parties to keep working “to find a path to the peaceful and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Guterres’ comments came as he laid out his disarmament agenda, warning that nuclear agreements between states have been threatened like never before.

Trump announced Thursday that he was canceling the June 12 summit in Singapore with Kim following hostile comments. Overnight, Kim’s government threatened nuclear confrontation and called Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan says achieving a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula will require “a much greater degree of seriousness” from Kim Jong Un.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has canceled a June 12 summit in Singapore with the North Korean leader, citing hostile comments from Kim. Overnight, Kim’s government threatened nuclear confrontation and called Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy.”

Ryan says in a statement Thursday that Kim’s government has long given ample reason to question its commitment to stability.

The Republican says that, until a peaceful resolution is achieved, Congress has provided “significant tools” to hold North Korea accountable.

Ryan says the U.S. must continue the “maximum pressure” campaign that Trump and others say brought North Korea to the table in the first place.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says North Korea did not respond to repeated requests from U.S. officials to discuss logistics for the now-canceled summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that the lack of response was an additional reason for Trump’s decision to call off the meeting. Trump cited recent bellicose comments from the North in a letter to Kim released by the White House.

Pompeo says: “We had received no response to our inquiries from them.”

Pompeo says the North’s attitude changed markedly since he returned from a trip to Pyongyang earlier this month, when he met with Kim and secured the release of three American prisoners being held there.

A senior Democratic senator says President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from a planned summit with North Korea shows the consequence of his failure to prepare properly.

Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey said Thursday that the withdrawal shows “the art of diplomacy is a lot harder than the art of the deal.”

The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says it’s “pretty amazing” that Trump’s Republican administration would be shocked that North Korea “is acting as North Korea might very well normally act.”

He adds: “I’m not sure that constantly quoting the Libya model is the diplomatic way to try to get to the results that we seek in North Korea because that didn’t work out too well for Gadhafi.”

Menendez was speaking Thursday at a committee hearing attended by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

President Donald Trump says North Korea’s leader should not “hesitate to call me or write” if he changes his mind about their now-canceled summit.

Trump announced Thursday that he had canceled a summit planned with Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

Trump released a letter to Kim saying his decision was based on “the tremendous anger and open hostility” in Kim’s most recent statement. Trump did not explain what triggered his decision.

But in a statement, the North Korean government had referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy” and said it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

But Trump tells Kim “please do not hesitate to call me or write” should he change his mind about a one-on-one meeting.

President Donald Trump is telling North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in a letter that the world is losing a “great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth” now that their summit has been canceled.

Trump on Thursday canceled the planned June 12 summit in Singapore with Kim, citing the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent statement from North Korea.

In the statement, the North Korean government referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy” and said it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

Trump says in the letter: “This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.”

President Donald Trump is canceling the planned June 12 summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, citing the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent statement from North Korea.

Trump says in a letter to Kim released Thursday by the White House that based on the statement, he felt it was “inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.”

The president says the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, “but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.” </s> President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. hasn’t been notified about North Korea’s threat to cancel his planned summit with Kim Jong Un next month.

"We'll see" if NK summit still on: Trump (Reuters/Inform)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. hasn’t been notified about North Korea’s threat to cancel his planned summit with Kim Jong Un next month.

North Korea threatened earlier in the day to scrap the historic summit between Trump and Kim, saying it has no interest in a “one-sided” affair meant to pressure the North to abandon its nuclear weapons. Trump maintained that he’ll still insist on the country’s denuclearization should the summit go on.

“We haven’t been notified at all” about the threat, Trump said as he welcomed the president of Uzbekistan to the White House.

He added: “We haven’t seen anything. We haven’t heard anything. We will see what happens.”

The warning from North Korea’s first vice foreign minister came after the country abruptly canceled a high-level meeting with South Korea to protest U.S.-South Korean military exercises that the North has long claimed are an invasion rehearsal.

National Security Adviser John Bolton told Fox News Radio Wednesday that “we are trying to be both optimistic and realistic at the same time.”

Bolton, who was called out by name by the North for saying that the U.S. is seeking to seek an outcome similar to Libya’s unilateral nuclear disarmament, said the personal attack raised question of “whether this really is a sign that that they’re not taking our objective of denuclearization seriously.”

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier Wednesday that preparations for the summit were ongoing despite the cancellation threat and that Trump is “hopeful” the meeting will still take place.

“If it doesn’t we’ll continue the maximum pressure campaign that’s been ongoing,” she told Fox & Friends.

Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said he is concerned that talks are “really being oversimplified” by the White House.

“This is not a like condo deal where two people sit down and hash out a number of outstanding issues and then they say ‘Well, some lawyers can write it up,’” he said.

AP writers Jill Colvin and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON — President Trump canceled a scheduled nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday, citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility" he said Kim displayed in recent statements.

In a letter to Kim, Trump described the decision to end negotiations over the June 12 meeting in Singapore as a "truly sad moment in history." The two countries were working for weeks toward a first-ever summit of a North Korean leader and a U.S. president.

"This is a tremendous setback for North Korea, and indeed a setback for the world," Trump said at the White House hours after the letter was released. "If and when Kim Jong Un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting."

Trump said he spoke to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and allies in the region on Thursday and repeatedly indicated U.S. military forces were ready should North Korea engage in any "foolish or reckless acts." The prospect of a summit had significantly eased tensions between North Korea and the U.S. that had escalated last year.

At the same time, the president appeared to leave a door open to further talks and, at one point, even suggested the meeting set for next month was still a possibility.

"It’s possible that the existing summit could take place, or a summit at some later date," Trump said.

In response, North Korea said it is still willing to sit down with Trump "at any time, at any format."

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan issued a statement Friday saying North Korea is "willing to give the U.S. time and opportunities" to reconsider talks.

Kim said Trump's decision was "unexpected" and "very regrettable" and North Korea's "objective and resolve to do our best for the sake of peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and all humankind remain unchanged."

The cancellation of the summit showed "how grave the status of historically deep-rooted hostile North Korea-U.S. relations is and how urgently a summit should be realized to improve ties," Kim said.

More: North Korea demolishes nuclear test site, as Trump cancels summit with Kim Jong Un

The likelihood of a summit seemed to be crumbling for weeks, but the timing was still a surprise.

On Tuesday, Trump said there was a “very substantial chance” it wouldn’t work out, and suggested that the meeting could be delayed. On Wednesday, he said he would make the decision next week, and as late as Thursday morning appeared in a taped interview on Fox News Channel in which he said there was “a good chance” the summit with North Korea would take place.

But Trump moved up the timetable after North Korea reacted sharply to comments made by Vice President Pence that Kim would "end like the Libyan model" if he didn't give up his nuclear weapons. Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi gave up his nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief in 2003 — and was beaten and killed by rebels eight years later.

Calling Pence's remarks "ignorant" and "stupid," the Kim regime threatened to back out of the talks.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had traveled to Pyongyang twice to meet with Kim, told a Senate committee that North Korea had not engaged with the U.S. on efforts to plan details of the summit. He said U.S. negotiators were prepared for those discussions, but didn’t hear back Kim’s government.

“We had received no response to our inquires from them,” Pompeo said.

A senior administration official told reporters Thursday that the White House had not heard from North Korea for weeks until it received a "propaganda" message Wednesday night that threatened the U.S. with a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown." The official said North Korea also stood up a U.S. delegation that traveled to Singapore last week to begin planning for the summit.

The official said the president "slept on" the message Wednesday and then decided to dictate the letter to Kim canceling the summit on Thursday morning.

The prospect of a summit first surfaced in March, when South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong conducted shuttle diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington. It was Chung who told Trump the North Koreans would meet without preconditions — something Trump now suggests may not have been the case.

"We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to me is totally irrelevant," Trump wrote to Kim. "I was very much looking forward to being there with you."

Trump's letter appeared to keep open the possibility of a later summit, telling Kim to contact him if he changes his mind.

Congressional hawks immediately applauded Trump's decision to back out. "North Korea has a long history of demanding concessions merely to negotiate," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. "While past administrations of both parties have fallen for this ruse, I commend the president for seeing through Kim Jong Un’s fraud."

But Democrats said the Trump administration's own missteps were to responsible for the breakdown.

“The art of diplomacy is a lot harder than the art of the deal,” said New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez blamed the administration’s “lack of preparation” and also questioned why the White House was “constantly quoting” the Libya model.

In his letter, Trump returned to some of the "fire and fury" rhetoric he used as he tried to force North Korea to the table last year. "You talk about your nuclear capabilities. but ours are so massive and powerful that l pray to God they will never have to be used."

But the letter also thanked Kim for the release of American hostages held in North Korea two weeks ago. "That was a beautiful gesture and was, very much appreciated," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> A week after US President Donald Trump called off the historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, he has announced that it’s back on.

According to BBC, Trump made the revelation on Friday after receiving a letter from Kim hand-delivered by senior North Korean envoy, Kim Yong-chol, to the White House.

Trump, speaking to reporters about the letter, had said it was “very interesting,” but later revealed he hadn’t read it yet.

The summit will take place on June 12 as earlier planned, he said.

We’ll be meeting on June 12th in Singapore. It went very well. We’re meeting with the chairman on June 12 and I think it’s probably going to be a very successful — ultimately a successful process

He dismissed the aggressive statements earlier received from North Korea, which he had given as a reason for the earlier cancellation, saying: </s> President Donald Trump today said the US has not been notified about North Korea’s threat to cancel his historic summit with Kim Jong-un next month. North Korea has threatened to abandon planned talks between Kim and Trump in June if Washington insists on pushing it “into a corner” on nuclear disarmament. “No decision. We haven’t been notified at all (about the threat). We’ll have to see,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We haven’t seen anything. We haven’t heard anything. We will see what happens, whatever is,” Trump told reporters as he welcomed the president of Uzbekistan to the White House.

Asked if Kim is bluffing, he replied, “We’ll see what happens.” Asked if he will still insist on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, Trump said, “Yes”. A statement published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said North Korea would never accept economic assistance from the US in exchange for unilaterally abandoning its nuclear programme.

In the meeting on June 12 in Singapore, the two countries were expected to discuss ways to implement their leaders’ recent agreements to reduce military tensions along their heavily fortified border and improve their overall ties.

Reacting to the reports from Pyongyang, the White House earlier said it was “still hopeful” the summit will proceed despite North Korea’s threat to cancel it. The State Department also said it was going ahead with preparations for the summit as planned earlier. </s> President Trump said Thursday it's still "possible" a June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un takes place, despite telling the leader of the rogue regime the U.S. was pulling out of the summit earlier in the day.

“Hopefully, everything is going to work out well with North Korea. A lot of things can happen, including the fact that perhaps … it's possible that the existing summit could take place or a summit at some later date,” Trump said prior to a bill signing ceremony at the White House. “Nobody should be anxious. We have to get it right.”

The president wrote in an open letter to Kim on Thursday that he had decided to cancel the June 12 meeting in Singapore due to the “tremendous anger and open hostility” displayed by Pyongyang.

[READ: Trump's letter to Kim Jong Un canceling North Korea summit]

But Trump said the scheduled meeting, or a future gathering, could take place if Kim changes his behavior.

“If and when Kim Jong Un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting,” the president said. “In the meantime, our very strong sanctions, by far the strongest sanctions ever imposed, and maximum pressure campaign will continue as it has been continuing. But no matter what happens and what we do, we will never, ever compromise the safety and security of the United States of America.”

The president accepted in March an invitation to meet with Kim, a decision that marked a shift away from the bellicose rhetoric the two exchanged last year.

As negations between the U.S. and Pyongyang progressed ahead of the summit, North Korea took several steps to appear to ease tensions between the two countries.

This month, three U.S. citizens who had been detained in North Korea were released, and the rogue regime also vowed to close one of its nuclear weapons test sites. On Thursday, North Korea appeared to demolish the site.

But the rhetoric from Pyongyang again shifted as the June 12 summit drew closer.

North Korea threatened to cancel the summit after the U.S. and South Korean forces resumed joint military exercises, saying the drills were in preparation for an invasion.

Then, in a statement carried by North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, Choe Son Hui, one of North Korea’s vice ministers of Foreign Affairs, slammed Vice President Mike Pence for “unbridled and impudent” comments about denuclearization.

“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 and behavior of the United States,” Choe said.

That statement appeared to be the final straw for Trump, who warned Kim in his letter the U.S. nuclear capabilities “are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.”

The president still left the door open for a meeting, telling Kim to contact him “if you change your mind having to do with this most important summit.”
U.S. President Donald Trump cancels the scheduled summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, citing "tremendous anger and open hostility" in a recent statement by North Korea. Trump states that a summit can still happen, but warns that the military is ready if needed.