North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly admonished his foreign ministry for statements critical of the U.S. ahead of his planned summit with President Donald Trump.
The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released to public statements on March 16 and March 24 critical of the Trump administration, encouraging the president to cancel his summit with Kim only a few hours after the second statement dropped. (RELATED: Trump Cancels US-North Korea Summit)
“I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” the president explained in a personal letter to the North Korean leader. In response to Trump’s letter, Kim reportedly issued a directive to the foreign ministry to replace “outdated diplomacy practices” with “creative diplomacy,” a local source in Pyongyang with knowledge of the order told The Daily NK.
“Chairman Kim criticized senior officials within the MFA … in a message that called for them to ‘take the leadership role in a sincere and practical manner in negotiations for the US-DPRK summit that are in line with the demands of this current, rapidly changing period,'” the source revealed, adding that Kim’s message further explained, “The MFA leadership should take care to understand that the use of misplaced confidence and the MFA’s style of negotiations will create problems for the Party in appropriately guiding the developing conditions for the summit at this fast-paced point in time.”
There is evidence to suggest that North Korea’s decision-making structures are not completely monolithic; however, the source relaying the message to The Daily NK theorized that the North Korean leader may have simply been trying to shirk responsibility for a breakdown in talks. In his directive, Kim emphasized that the focus should be “building trust with our long-time enemy the U.S.”
In response to Trump’s letter, the North Korean foreign ministry responded calmly, explaining to the U.S. that it is ready to talk “at any time.”
Since then, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity to salvage the canceled Trump-Kim summit. U.S. officials are currently meeting their American counterparts at the DMZ, in Singapore, and in New York.
Very good meetings with North Korea.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018
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