page_title: 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit
section_title: Tensions, cancelation, and reinstatement
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit / Preparations / Tensions, cancelation, and reinstatement
caption_attribution_description: English: Statement of Donald J. Trump, President of the U.S., adressed to Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission and Supreme Leader of Democratic People's Republic of Korea, after Trump cancelled scheduled DPRK–U.S. summit of June 12, 2018 which finally took place.
context_page_description: The 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit, commonly known as the Singapore Summit, was a summit meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, held at the Capella Hotel, Sentosa, Singapore, on June 12, 2018. It was the first-ever meeting between leaders of North Korea and the United States. They signed a joint statement, agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea, new peaceful relations, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, recovery of soldiers' remains, and follow-up negotiations between high-level officials. Both leaders also met separately with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
  Immediately following the summit, President Trump announced that the U.S. military would discontinue "provocative" joint military exercises with South Korea, and stated that he wished to bring the U.S. soldiers back home at some point, but he reinforced that it was not part of the Singapore equation. On August 1, 2018, the U.S.
context_section_description: American Vice President Mike Pence said on May 21, 2018, that "this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn't make a deal" to "dismantle his nuclear weapons program". Trump had made similar remarks on May 17, as he described that Libya's fate is "what will take place if we don't make a deal". These comments were in reference to the killing of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after military intervention by Americans and Europeans in 2011. After a NATO airstrike prevented Gaddafi's escape, the Libyan rebels captured, assaulted, sodomized, and executed Gaddafi. However, Libya under Gaddafi had already in 2003 voluntarily ended its nuclear weapons program and complied with conditions set by Western powers. As a result, North Korean vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui called Pence's remarks "ignorant and stupid" and threatened a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown".
  Trump canceled the summit on May 24, 2018, via a letter to Chairman Kim, writing that "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 ... 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." Even though it was Trump who decided to cancel, Trump told Kim, "If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write."
  South Korean President Moon was left "very perplexed" by Trump's cancellation, while the South Korean minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs Cho Myoung-gyon said that North Korea "remains sincere" on "efforts on denuclearization and peace building".
  In response to Trump's cancellation, North Korean vice foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan expressed his country's "willingness to sit down face-to-face with the US and resolve issues anytime and in any format", being "open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the US" for the "peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula". Trump's cancellation had come on the day North Korea had detonated explosives at its only known nuclear test site, at Punggye-ri in front of international journalists; North Korea claimed that this would have demolished the test site.
  On May 25, however, Trump announced that the summit could resume as scheduled following a "very nice statement" he received from North Korea and that talks were now resuming.
  The following day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed in a statement that a "pre-advance team for Singapore will leave as scheduled in order to prepare the summit should take place". The team, consisting of about thirty staffers from both the White House and State Department, met with North Korean counterparts over Memorial Day weekend.
  On May 30, North Korean general Kim Yong-chol arrived in New York City to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Negotiations between Kim and Pompeo continued the next day, and Pompeo later stated at a press conference that "good progress" had been made. Kim Yong-chol, who is the Vice Chair of Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the US since 2000 (when Jo Myong-rok met with US President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C.).
  On June 1, Trump announced the summit would resume as scheduled for June 12 after he met Kim Yong-chol at the White House. Kim Yong-chol delivered a letter from Kim Jong-un to Trump, of which Trump first told reporters that it was "a very nice" and "a very interesting letter", yet eight minutes later said "I haven't seen the letter yet. I purposely didn't open the letter".
caption: Letter sent to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by US President Donald Trump informing Kim of the cancellation of the summit
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