U.S. President Donald Trump said
that the much anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un could
still go ahead on June 12.
Trump told reporters at the White
House: “We’re going to see what happens. It could even be the 12th”, referring
to the original date set for the meeting in Singapore.
“We’re talking to them now. They
very much want to do it. We’d like to do it. We’ll see what happens.”
In a tweet later, the president
welcomed North Korea’s latest statement on the talks as “very good news,”
following Trump’s announcement on Thursday cancelling the meeting.
Trump, also tweeted: “Very good
news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will
soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and
peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!”
Trump had cancelled the planned
summit with Kim, citing the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent
statement from North Korea.
It came on a day that North Korea
dismantled its nuclear bomb testing site, in the presence of some invited
journalists
Trump said in a letter to Kim
released on 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 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.”
In a statement released by North
Korean media on Thursday, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui had called U.S.
Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” for comparing North Korea – a
“nuclear weapons state” – to Libya, where Gaddafi gave up his unfinished
nuclear development programme, only to be later killed by NATO-backed fighters.
“It is to be underlined, however,
that in order not to follow in Libya’s footstep, we paid a heavy price to build
up our powerful and reliable strength that can defend ourselves and safeguard
peace and security in the Korean peninsula and the region.
“We will neither beg the U.S. for
dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit
together with us,” Choe said.
However, a top North Korean
official issued a statement on Friday, expressing the regime’s “willingness” to
sit down for a summit with the U.S. administration.
“We express our willingness to
sit down face-to-face with the U.S. and resolve issues anytime and in any
format,” North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said.
“Our commitment to doing our best
for the sake of peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula
remains unchanged, and we are open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the
U.S.,” he said.
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