Our top story on Midday Edition, in a letter today to North Korea's tran 27, President Donald Trump says the Singapore Summit will not take Place. In remarks today at the White House, the president said this . >> and a lot of things can happen including the fact that perhaps and we would wait it is possible that existing summit could take place or a summit at some later day. >>> If you find that confusing, it is just the tip of the iceberg and the unorthodox relationship that has developed between the Trump administration and North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pao told Congress today that since the June 12 summit is off, the United States may seek stronger sanctions against North Korea. Joining me to explain this turn of events is Stefan Haggard the professor of North Korea Pacific studies at UC San Diego. Welcome to the program. Where there indications to you that the summit was in jeopardy before today? >> I actually thought the summit would go ahead. There has always been risks because when the president accepted this offer, back on March 8, there really was not very much time to prepare a summit of this magnitude. I think some of what is going on might be cold feet on both sides about whether the size of really prepared to go into such a momentous summit. >>> President Donald Trump talk today about the hostile messages coming from North Korea as the main reason for canceling the talks. Can you explain some of the tension that we have seen in the lead up to the summit? >> There have been recriminations on both sides. I have to say some of the messages coming out of the U.S. administration has probably contributed to the issue. At the end of April, John Bolton gave several interviews where he talked about the Libya model. He was actually talking about the denuclearization of Libya in December 2003 an agreement that was reached then. Of course, that language to the North Koreans immediately sounds like the NATO intervention of 2011 and Qaddafi's demise. Vice President Mike Pence has also made comments about military options being on the table. The North Koreans having to give up all of the nuclear weapons before any concessions were made. I think there is some jockeying going on and mixed messaging that might affect the North Korean perception of U.S. intent. >>> Just hours before the White House announced the summit was off, North Korea appeared to destroy a North Korea test site. Has there been any reaction from North Korea so far about the cancellation of the summit? >> The explosion of the test site itself is actually still somewhat controversial. Initially they invited North Koreans and Americans to attend. Even to allow them together some sort of forensic evidence about the actual destruction of the site. There is now a back-and-forth going on about whether that site was fully destroyed or whether some of the tunnels would still allow for further testing. That issue was sort of a simple lot -- symbolic gesture and there is a back-and-forth on whether or not that promise has been carried out. >>> Has North Korea reacted in any way about the cancellation of the summit that you have heard? >> Not to my knowledge. We are still only a couple of hours into this. It would take them typically 6 to 12 hours to generate a statement on this. We do have this earlier statement from the vice Minister of foreign affairs that was negative on the pins comments. That was part of what set this cycle on Train. >>> What does the cancellation of the summit mean for Cal -- South Korea who is invested in this process ? >> It is a big embarrassment. If you saw president moon at the summit press conference following their meeting or prior to their meeting, it was clear that he was invested heavily in this happening. His main job in coming to Washington was really to convince the president not to waver on this. Clearly, I think that he sees this as a setback. I have talked to people in the corn -- Korean foreign minister today and they are upset about the fact that this transpired. >>> In the presidents letter to North Korea, he leaves an opening for Renew Talks. Later in his remarks, the president talked about the U.S. military's power and nuclear capability. What sort of message does this send to North Korea? >> I just did not think the language was useful in the letter. Also in the presidents comments today, he led with the fact that he consulted Secretary Mattis about military options and that he consulted Japan and Korea about them. I just don't think that that kind of language is useful even if it was probably a signal that the U.S. would respond and maintain a deterrent when any provocations would occur. North Koreans a sensitive. I am not saying we should bow to every sensitivity. It does nothing useful going into a negotiation of this sort to talk about the military options as Vice President Mike Pence did or to raise the sorts of issues. >>> You think a high-level summit between the U.S. and North Korea with both presidents will be rescheduled ? >> I do. I think there have been very strong signs on both sides of an interest in making this happen. The North Koreans have made a lot of concessions to the United States. They have at least stated that they would not object to exercises which is another issue that came up. They have at least uttered the words and some settings particularly in China about a commitment to denuclearization of some sort. I think the president deserve some credit. This is a very bold move to take on the summit. The Obama administration was not willing to do that. I think we knew that there was a certain amount of risk that the planning would not go through with the North Koreans or the U.S. would get cold feet. >>> I have been speaking with Stefan Haggard Professor of Korean studies at UC San Diego. Thank you. >> My pleasure.
UPDATE: 8 a.m., May 24, 2018
In a dramatic diplomatic turn, President Donald Trump canceled next month's summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un Thursday, citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility" in a recent statement by the North.
Trump said in a letter to Kim released by the White House that, based on the statement, he felt it was "inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting." Adding his own threat, he said that while the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, "ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used."
RELATED: North Korea Demolishes Its Nuclear Test Site In A 'Huge Explosion'
In the Korean statement that Trump cited, the North referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a "political dummy" for his comments on the North and said it was just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.
Trump said his letter: "If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write."
He said the world was losing a "great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth" now that their June 12 summit has been canceled. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo read the letter during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday.
The president had agreed to the historic sit-down in March after months of trading insults and nuclear threats with the North Korean leader. But after criticism from North Korea, Trump cast doubt this week on whether the meeting would happen.
A White House official said it was incorrect to focus on the "dummy comments" about Pence. The official said the North Koreans had threatened nuclear war in their statement released Wednesday night and no summit could be successful under these circumstances.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
White House officials have privately predicted for weeks that the summit could be canceled once or twice before actually taking place, owing to the hard-nosed style of the two leaders. Trump has seemed to welcome chatter of a Nobel Peace Prize, but that has yielded in recent weeks to the sobering prospect of ensuring a successful outcome with the Kim.
Trump's allies in Congress applauded the president, saying he was justified in pulling out of the meeting.
"North Korea has a long history of demanding concessions merely to negotiate. While past administrations of both parties have fallen for this ruse, I commend the president for seeing through Kim Jong Un's fraud," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who said the nation's "maximum-pressure campaign on North Korea must continue."
This spring, scoring a diplomatic win with Pyongyang had become Trump's top focus.
That had been a far cry from his bellicose rhetoric, issued both on Twitter and from the rostrum of the United Nations last fall. Trump threw off ominous taunts of raining "fire and fury" on the North while belittling its leader as "Little Rocket Man, alarming many global capitals and much of Washington's national security establishment and increasing worries about nuclear war. But Trump believed his outside-the-box behavior would bring Kim to the negotiating table.
Drawn to big moments and bigger headlines, Trump has viewed the North Korea summit as a legacy-maker for him, believing that the combustible combination of his bombast and charm already had led to warmer relations between North and South.
A letter from the President to Chairman Kim Jong Un: "It is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting." pic.twitter.com/3dDIp55xu1
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2018
He immediately agreed to the proposed meeting, conveyed by South Korean officials, accepting it before consulting with many of his top national security advisers. And earlier this month, when welcoming home three Americans who had been detained in North Korea, Trump used a televised, middle-of-the-night ceremony to play up both his statecraft and stagecraft.
Some observers raised concerns that Trump was risking legitimizing Kim's government by agreeing to meet him on the world stage without evidence of denuclearization or other concessions. But Trump had bet big on the summit, telling one confidant that he believed a deal with North Korea, rather than in the Middle East, could be his historic victory.
White House officials also believed that a triumph on the Korean Peninsula — something that has eluded the United States for generations — could bolster Trump's approval ratings, help inoculate him against the investigations swirling around him and trickle down to help Republicans in this fall's midterm elections.
