SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it "regrets" the cancellation of a June 12 summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In a statement on Thursday (May 24), the ministry said: "Singapore regrets that the scheduled summit between President of the United States Donald J. Trump and Democratic People's Republic of Korea State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un will no longer take place on 12 June 2018.
"Singapore hopes that the dialogue and efforts to find lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula will continue."
Mr Trump announced his abrupt withdrawal from what would have been a historic first meeting between a serving US president and a North Korean leader in Singapore on June 12 in a letter to Mr Kim.
A White House official said a North Korean official's condemnation of US Vice-President Mike Pence as a "political dummy" was "the last straw" that led to the cancellation of the summit.
"Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it would be inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Mr Trump wrote to Mr Kim.
"Please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place."
Mr Trump called it "a missed opportunity" and said he still hoped to meet Mr Kim someday.
