North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un got cold feet less than a month before denuclearization talks were scheduled to take place between his country, South Korea, Japan, and the United States. Negotiations were planned to take place in Singapore on June 12, at least until Kim decided to reverse back to hostile rhetoric and threatened to cancel the meeting.
The announcement sent shock waves through the mainstream media as they attempted to paint the move as a failure on the part of the Trump administration to bring peace to the Korean peninsula after all. But not to be lumped in with past American Presidents who failed at denuclearization negotiations, Trump did not let Kim get the upper hand. Instead of rhetorically making empty threats, the President sent an official letter to Kim notifying him the United States would not be meeting with him anymore due to his outwardly “tremendous anger.” The White House declared that all communication channels with North Korea would be shut down.
Just two days after the letter from Trump was postmarked, North Korea told South Korea at a last-minute summit that Kim is willing to discuss to discuss “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and expressed his intent to settle the history of war and confrontation.” In other words, Kim realized Trump is different than American Presidents of the past. He is not one to sit and take threats to the United States lightly and he follows through with his promises. The turnaround by Kim was welcomed by US officials and President Trump, and all signs point to a meeting as planned for June 12.
Trump discussed the summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the Memorial Day weekend, and tweeted about his renewed optimism. “Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself,” he tweeted on Sunday. Preliminary meetings took place over the weekend at the DMZ and “Trump discussed the summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” according to Channel 3000 News. For now, Trump has urged “his advisers to move ahead with the goal of meeting on June 12.” Until then, the world waits with bated breath for a few weeks, hoping tempers stay cool and the Korean peninsula comes to know peace once and for all.