NHK reported at noon that a senior Trump administration official explained that President Trump cancelled the Singapore summit slated for June 12 because the North Korean side repeatedly broke its promises, including not appearing in a preparatory meeting in Singapore last week and refusing to invite an international expert to observe the dismantlement of its nuclear test site on May 24 despite its earlier explanation to the U.S. and South Korea that it would do so. The network said that the President made the decision to cancel the summit after discussing the situation with Vice President Pence on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, the network said the President also told reporters that there is still a possibility that the summit will be held, adding that the Trump administration is closely watching to see if North Korea softens its stance in order to determine whether to hold the summit or step up its pressure on the North.

An NHK reporter said the senior USG official expressed frustration that North Korea has become insincere, adding that the Trump administration’s distrust of North Korea has apparently been increasing day by day. The senior official reportedly said North Korea needs to do exactly the opposite of what it has been doing in order for there to be a summit, adding that the Trump administration intends to make North Korea compromise on denuclearization by putting pressure on it with the sudden cancellation of the summit. He added that the U.S. move is also a part of a strategy to seize the initiative by calling off the summit first. He said, however, that the Trump administration may decide to further increase pressure on the North and raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula depending on the moves of North Korea, adding that attention will be focused on how Kim Jong Un responds.