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Mike Pompeo Reads Out Loud Trump's Letter Canceling U.S.-North Korea Summit

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is off. President Trump has canceled this meeting, which had been set for June 12 in Singapore. The U.S. was hoping to reach an agreement on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on Capitol Hill this morning for a Senate hearing, and he read out loud the president's letter to Kim Jong Un canceling the summit.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MIKE POMPEO: 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.

MARTIN: Pompeo also said North Korea hadn't responded to queries by the United States in recent days involving logistics for the summit. Relations between the two governments had been deteriorating. Most recently, North Korea took issue with remarks by Vice President Mike Pence, who said Kim Jong Un could meet the same end as Libya's former leader, Moammar Gadhafi, who surrendered his nuclear weapons but was ultimately killed by his own people. South Korea's leader, who was just in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss details of the summit, has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss next steps.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.