Trump Cancels Meeting with North Korean Leader

U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled his scheduled meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The meeting was supposed to take place next month in Singapore. However, North Korea announced a few days ago that it would not proceed with 'unilateral disarmament', raising doubts about the meeting. Trump cited 'open hostility and blatant anger' in North Korea's recent positions as the reason for canceling the meeting. In a letter to Kim Jong Un, released by the White House, Trump stated that due to North Korea's recent positions, 'such a pre-planned meeting is not appropriate at this time.' Trump expressed that he was 'very much looking forward to this meeting' but added that 'unfortunately, due to the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate to have this long-planned meeting.' He described this as 'a missed opportunity' and expressed hope to meet with Kim in the future. Trump also mentioned that while North Korea speaks of its nuclear capabilities, 'ours is so massive and powerful that I pray it will never have to be used.' Verbal attacks between Pyongyang and Washington have increased in recent days, especially following comments made by John Bolton, the White House National Security Advisor. On May 23, Bolton stated in a television interview that the North Korean disarmament model could resemble the 'Libya model' from 2003. Muammar Gaddafi voluntarily halted his initial nuclear program in 2003 and was exempted from sanctions. Gaddafi's government was targeted by a NATO coalition in 2011, and he was ultimately killed by his opponents. Kim Gae-gwan, North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister, expressed 'disgust' at Bolton's remarks. In February 2018, Bolton argued in an article titled 'A Legal Case for Preemptive Strike on North Korea' about the necessity of a U.S. attack on North Korea.