White House blames 'trail of broken promises' for North Korea summit collapse

A "trail of broken promises" by the North Koreans, including keeping a team of US officials waiting in Singapore for a preparatory meeting, left the US President Donald Trump with no choice to cancel his proposed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jon-un, according to a White House official familiar with the process.

It was on March 8 that a delegation visiting from South Korea came to the White House to deliver a message from Kim Jong Un to Trump. The message conveyed from Kim was that he was committed to denuclearisation. He also pledged to refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests and said he understood that routine joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States would continue, he said.

The official said the North Korean leader also expressed his desire to meet with Trump as soon as possible.

"In light of all this, President Trump accepted Kim Jong Un's offer to meet in person," he told reporters hours after Trump in an open letter to Kim said he was cancelling his June 12 summit meeting with him in Singapore.

Since that day, when Trump accepted Kim's invitation, the United States has made significant efforts to prepare for their meeting, and it has done so in good faith, said the official, who spoke with reporters on condition of anonymity.

"But there has been a trail of broken promises that gave the United States pause. Last week, North Korea objected to a routine annual joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea. They called our exercises "provocative military disturbances." They cancelled their meeting with the South Koreans. That constituted a broken promise," the official said