The much awaited summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un slated to be held on June 12 in Singapore has been dramatically called off. Trump has said that he has taken the decision because of the tremendous anger and hostility displayed by Kim in the past few days. North Korea had threatened to pull out of the summit concerning the nuclear weapons programme of the country and warned that it was prepared for a nuclear showdown with the US. Trump replied that North Korea would be foolish to do so as US military was the most powerful in the world. In such an eventuality, South Korea and Japan were ready to bear the financial burden of such a conflagration. The US will continue its maximum pressure campaign of sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. Last month Donald Trump had called Kim a very honourable man and seemed very willing to attend the historic summit. Kim however finally refused to agree to a unilateral disarmament agreement. The apparent destruction of what North Korea said was its only nuclear test site had been acclaimed as a positive step but it did not carry conviction in the last analysis.
The crisis was aggravated when the US Vice President Mike Pence suggested a Libya model to make a deal. It had a reference to how Colonel Gaddafi was forced to abandon his nuclear designs. North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister called Pence’s suggestion stupid. It caused great indignation in Washington. Now that the summit is finally abandoned, South Korea is surprised by the sudden volte-face by the US and North Korea. It had been pressing for unification of the two Koreas and a nuclear free peninsula. Trump for his part has deplored Kim’s decision as it would hurt North Korea’s economy and further impoverish his people.