Michael Berookim did not write this blog post and the content within this article does not express his views on the topic.
In the latest string of events in the past few weeks, including the meeting of South Korea’s President and President Trump at the White House,
Donald Trump called off the summit meeting set for June 12th in Singapore with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. In a letter addressed to the North Korean leader, President Trump withdrew from the Summit in a kind yet stern way. President Trump left the door open by welcoming the North Korean leader to write him or call. In his letter, which is said to have been dictated by the President himself, he mentions that this was sadly a missed opportunity but left the possibility of a future summit at a later date open depending on whether there is constructive action and dialogue coming from North Korea. The United States sent a team to Singapore to make preparations for the Summit where they were not met or received as no North Korean team was sent to prepare for the Summit. President’s Trump’s actions were allegedly based on a culmination of these events and lack of dialogue with North Korea over the past few weeks.
North Korea was infuriated by comments made by President Trump’s National Security Adviser and Vice President Mike Pence regarding the comparison to Libya’s past leader Muammar Gaddafi, who gave up nuclear weapons and then was brutally murdered. In response, a North Korea representative foreign vice minister issued a statement yesterday calling Mike Pence a “political dummy.”
North Korea obliterated three of its nuclear sites this morning claiming to be acting in good faith. North Korea is taking the position they are surprised by President Trump’s calling off the summit. We will look to the future to see whether another summit will be scheduled to take place. In the meantime, we hope that President Trump’s actions prove to be fruitful in future diplomatic relations and are a successful version of his “Art of the Deal.”