In the wake of President Donald Trump's cancelation of a planned nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some members of Congress immediately spoke out about the decision on Thursday.

Some members of Congress lauded Trump saying he made the right decision to call off the summit if North Korea did not intend on getting rid of its nuclear weapons, while others urged the administration to keep working to end nuclear threats from North Korea.

The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., said in a statement that the administration should continue to apply diplomatic pressure to North Korea.

“Our goal is to peacefully end North Korea’s nuclear threats. The administration should continue to look for opportunities while applying maximum diplomatic and financial pressure against Kim Jong Un. Our allies – including South Korea and Japan – need to stand with the United States. There can be no daylight between us,” Royce said in a statement.

Some Democrats criticized the president, saying that the decision showed that he was not prepared to deal with Kim Jong Un's tactics.

This is a developing story. Please refresh for details.</s>TOKYO: Asian shares were slightly weaker on Friday (May 25) amid fragile market sentiment after US President Donald Trump called off a key summit with North Korea, though investor concerns were softened by expectations the two countries may still continue dialogue.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked down. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.65 per cent. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.3 per cent.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended 0.2 per cent lower on Thursday, though it clawed back a large part of its earlier loss of 0.95 per cent.

The 10-year US Treasuries yield stood at 2.988 per cent, falling further from a seven-year high of 3.128 per cent hit a week ago.

The German 10-year Bund yield hit a 4-1/2-month low of 0.461 per cent, having fallen more than 11 basis points so far this week.

Despite the market's shift to safe-haven assets, there are no immediate signs of widespread investor panic with the Wall Street's volatility index, seen as gauge on investors' fears, ending at a four-month low on Thursday.

Analysts say that is primarily because investors are becoming accustomed to Trump's dramatic negotiation style, in which he makes drastic calls before making compromises, and are increasingly seeing his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Un, adopt a similar approach.

"I suspect they couldn't agree on denuclearisation. But looking at comments from the both sides, none of them is ruling out holding a meeting in the future. So I do not expect to see an immediate escalation in military tension," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.

North Korea's vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan said on Friday Pyonyang is open to resolving issues with the United States.

In addition to North Korea, the possibility of US tariffs on foreign auto imports are stoking worries about trade war, although investors also see this threat from Washington as a tactic to get better bilateral deals from major auto exporter nations.

In the currency market, traditional safe havens such as the Swiss franc and the yen were in favor.

The dollar traded at 109.31 yen, down about two per cent from Monday's four-month high of 111.395 and looks set to post its first weekly loss in nine weeks.

The yen is seen as a safe-haven because of Japan's status as the world's largest net creditor nation.

Against the Swiss franc, the dollar extended losses to hit its lowest level since April of 0.9886 franc overnight and last stood at 0.9912.

The franc also stood near 2-1/2-month high against the euro hit earlier this week, trading at 1.1615 franc per euro.

The euro traded at US$1.1712, slightly above its six-month low of US$1.1676 touched on Wednesday, on course to mark its sixth consecutive week of fall.

The currency was dogged by worries about a new coalition government in Italy, to be formed by two anti-establishment parties as well as mounting signs of a slowdown in the currency bloc.

Oil prices slipped, partly on speculation reduced supplies from Venezuela and Iran could prompt Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to wind down output cuts in place since the start of 2017.

OPEC may decide in June to lift output to make up for reduced supply from crisis-hit Venezuela and Iran, which was stung by the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear arms control deal, OPEC and oil industry sources told Reuters.

Brent crude futures stood flat at US$78.80 a barrel, after a 1.27 percent loss the previous day. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell were little changed at US$70.74 per barrel. They lost 1.57 per cent on Thursday.</s>A group of foreign journalists has departed by train to watch the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear test site after eight reporters from South Korea received last-minute permission to join them.

The remote site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated north-east interior is expected to have a formal closing ceremony in the next day or two, depending on the weather.

The closing was announced by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his planned summit with US President Donald Trump next month.

The train trip was expected to take eight to 12 hours, followed by several hours on a bus and then an hour’s hike to the site itself.

The journalists were put in sleeping cars on the train, four bunks to a compartment.

The compartments had windows covered with blinds, and the journalists were told not to open the blinds throughout the journey.

Media were also expected to pay their own costs for the trip. The train fare was 75 dollars per person round trip. Each meal was 20 dollars.

North Korea had earlier refused to grant entry visas to the South Korean journalists after the North cut off high-level contact with Seoul to protest over joint US-South Korean military exercises.

But North Korea accepted the list of the South Korean journalists to attend via a cross-border communication channel.

The journalists from the MBC television network and News1 wire service took a special government flight later on Wednesday to go to the North’s north-eastern coastal city of Wonsan.

The other journalists from the United States, the UK, China and Russia arrived in Wonsan on Tuesday.

The North’s eleventh-hour decision to allow the South Koreans to join came just after Mr Trump met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Washington to try to keep the Kim-Trump summit from going off the rails.

Mr Trump indicated he believes the meeting will take place, but left open the possibility it would be delayed or even cancelled if a fruitful outcome does not seem likely.

The summit could offer a historic chance for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

But there has been increasing pessimism about the meeting after North Korea scrapped the inter-Korean talks and threatened to do the same for the Kim-Trump summit in protest at the South Korea-US military drills and what it calls Washington’s push for “one-sided” disarmament.

The North’s decision to close the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Mr Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the summit.

Even so, it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Mr Trump’s demands for real denuclearisation.

By bringing in the foreign media, mainly television networks, the North is apparently hoping to have images of the closing – including explosions to collapse tunnel entrances – broadcast around the world.

But it has not invited international inspectors to the ceremony, which limits its value as a serious concession.</s>SEOUL: Invited foreign journalists gathered in North Korea on Wednesday to witness the slated destruction of the reclusive regime’s nuclear test site, a high profile gesture on the road to a summit with the US that Donald Trump now says might not happen.

In a surprise announcement Pyongyang said earlier this month that it planned to “completely” destroy the Punggye-ri facility in the country’s northeast, a move welcomed by Washington and Seoul.

Punggye-ri has been the site of all six of the North’s nuclear tests, the latest and by far the most powerful in September last year, which Pyongyang said was an H-bomb.

The demolition is due to take place sometime between Wednesday and Friday, depending on the weather.

The North has portrayed the destruction on the test site as a goodwill gesture ahead of planned June 12 summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore.

But doubts have since been cast by both sides on whether that potentially historic meeting will take place.

Last week Pyongyang threatened to pull out if Washington pressed for its unilateral nuclear disarmament. Trump also said the meeting could be delayed as he met with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in in Washington on Tuesday.

“There are certain conditions we want to happen. I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we won’t have the meeting,” he told reporters, without elaborating on what those conditions might be.

‘Thin ice’

 Politically, Trump has invested heavily in the success of his meeting with Kim, and so privately most US officials, as well as outside observers, believe it will go ahead.

But as the date draws near, Trump’s divergence from his top aides, the differences between the two sides and these high stakes are coming into sharp relief.

Washington has made it clear it wants to see the “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” of the North.

Pyongyang has vowed it will never give up its nuclear deterrence until it feels safe from what is sees as US aggression.

“Everything is on thin ice,” Koo Kab-woo, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Agence France-Presse.

“Trump wants a swift denuclearization, something that will be done within his first term in office. In that case, he has to provide North Korea with a corresponding, swift security guarantee.”

Observers will be watching the nuclear test site destruction ceremony closely for any clues to the North’s mood.

Experts are divided over whether the demolition will render the site useless. Sceptics say the site has already outlived its usefulness with six successful nuclear tests in the bag and can quickly be rebuilt if needed.

Previous similar gestures by the North have been rapidly reversed when the international mood soured.

But others say the fact that North Korea agreed to destroy the site without preconditions or asking for something in return from Washington is significant.

Go Myong-hyun, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said both sides were playing “a game of chicken” in the run up to the summit “to gain an upper hand in negotiations.”

He said the destruction of the Punggye-ri test site would win Pyongyang international sympathy even if the summit collapses.

“North Korea can say to the international community that it did its best to achieve denuclearization through negotiations but was pressured by the United States and couldn’t do it,” he said.

A handful of foreign journalists, including from South Korea, were invited to attend the demolition ceremony.</s>North Korea’s grand gesture to dismantle its nuclear site is now a metaphor for the fate of the Trump-Kim summit.

Yesterday (May 24) the rogue regime appeared to destroy its only known nuclear testing site, Punggye-ri, in three explosions witnessed by invited members of the foreign press. Just hours later, Donald Trump called off his much anticipated June 12 summit with Kim Jong Un. In an emotional break-up letter, Trump didn’t mention the demolition of the site, but cited the North’s “tremendous anger and open hostility” as reasons for scrapping the plan.

The coincidence comes as the US and North Korea showed greater discrepancies in their approaches on how to achieve denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in the past few weeks. Trump administration officials, including national security adviser John Bolton and vice president Mike Pence, have called on North Korea to follow the “Libya model”—which the North did not take to kindly given how a US-backed invasion later killed Muammar Qaddafi—by giving up its nuclear program upfront. In a fiery rebuttal, North Korea blasted Pence as a “political dummy” and threatened the US with a nuclear strike. The provocative remarks also overshadowed the self-described “peace-loving” country’s gesture to release three American citizens earlier this month who had been held in the country.

Experts have said that the demolition is a largely symbolic move that won’t affect North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. In addition, it’s unclear whether the explosions rendered the tunnels at the testing site unusable, or only caused limited damage. No international inspectors were invited to witness the demolition, and journalists at the scene had their radiation-measuring equipment confiscated, according to CNN.</s>North Korea is expected to dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site over the next few days in a move toward denuclearization ahead of an unprecedented summit between President Trump and the North's leader, Kim Jong Un.

However Trump cast the summit into doubt Tuesday, saying it could be delayed or even canceled.

A small group of international journalists arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to cover the shutdown of the North's key nuclear test site. Reporters and television crews from the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and China flew in from Beijing.

The dismantling ceremony is scheduled to take place between May 23 and 25, depending on weather.

Absent from the media visitors were eight South Korean journalists, who were excluded after having initially been invited by the North.

The relationship between North Korea and South Korea chilled suddenly last week when Pyongyang canceled a scheduled high-level meeting with South Korean officials, citing a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise as the reason.

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon expressed “regrets that South Korean press corps were unable to visit the North due to North Korea’s lack of follow-up measures despite inviting them.”

He said in a statement Tuesday that the North’s pledge to dismantle the site is proceeding as planned and “expects that such action (will) lead to the successful hosting of the North Korea-U.S. summit.”

Trump and Kim were scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12, but Trump cast new uncertainty on the planned summit Tuesday, saying the date could slide back on the calendar — or it may not happen at all. Pyongyang has threatened to reconsider the summit if the Trump administration pressures North Korea to unilaterally abandon its nuclear weapons.

"There's a chance — there's a very substantial chance — it won't work out," Trump said as he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House Tuesday.

“You never know about deals," he said. "I’ve made a lot of deals. You never really know.”

Trump's comments came after an April 27 inter-Korean summit between Moon and Kim, which ended in a joint declaration seeking a peace treaty and complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim announced plans to close the Punggye-ri site last month ahead of the summit, saying that nuclear development was complete and further underground testing was unnecessary.

North Korea has been clearing out small buildings and sheds from the site in recent weeks, according to satellite images and analysis from the online Korea journal 38 North.

The dismantling of the site will include “collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances, and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts,” according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Punggye-ri, located in the mountainous northeast of the country, is the site where all six of North Korea's nuclear tests have been held.

North Korea’s most recent test in September 2017 was by far its most powerful. A study published earlier this month in the journal Science concluded the explosion was 13 to 16 times as powerful as the bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. The force of the explosion caused Mount Mantap above the underground site to shift several feet horizontally and collapse around a foot-and-a-half vertically.

There has been speculation that the closing of the site is merely a bit of geopolitical stagecraft since it has already been so badly damaged.

Chinese geologists last month published a report saying the nuclear blast caused an on-site collapse at Punggye-ri, warning of an “environmental catastrophe” if the North tried to use the site again.

Technical experts have not been invited to the decommissioning of the site, raising further questions whether the gesture is for show.

Some observers still see the site's closing as a step forward.

"It's important to welcome this offer even if it is making a virtue out of a necessity because the test site was damaged by recent tests,” said Rebecca Johnson, an arms control expert with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. She added that experts from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the world’s main nuclear test-ban body, should also be invited to observe the site.

Joel Wit, director of 38 North and a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, said dismantling the site is not a meaningless gesture, as there are two areas of the installation that have never been used for tests and still contain tunnels.

“In an ideal world, we wouldn't just have journalists observing what's going on,” said Wit. “What (the U.S.) should be doing in the summit is insisting on having experts come in to make sure the sites are dismantled properly.”

Wit added that the move is something "no one would have anticipated four or five months ago. In part, it’s a nice piece of theater. But it's an opening to accomplish something more significant by building on it.”</s>North Korea has carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site, setting off a series of explosions over several hours in the presence of foreign journalists.

The explosions at the site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated north east were centred on three tunnels into the underground site and a number of observation towers in the surrounding area.

The planned closing was previously announced by leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his planned summit with US President Donald Trump next month.

The demolition came as the North lobbed another verbal salvo at Washington, calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

The North’s decision to close the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Mr Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the summit.

This May 23 2018 satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the Punggye-ri test site in North Korea (DigitalGlobe via AP)

Even so, it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Mr Trump’s demands for real denuclearisation.

By bringing in the foreign media, mainly television networks, the North is apparently hoping to have images of the closing – including explosions to collapse tunnel entrances – broadcast around the world.

The North did not invite international inspectors to the ceremony, which limits its value as a serious concession.

The outburst at Mr Pence, issued in the name of a top Foreign Ministry official, comes on the heels of another sharp rebuke of Mr Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser John Bolton, and has raised concerns that a major gap has opened between the two sides just weeks before the June 12 summit in Singapore.

In both cases, Pyongyang was trying to push back against hard-line comments suggesting North Korea may end up like Libya if it does not move forward quickly and irreversibly with concrete measures to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

Choe Son Hui, a vice minister of foreign affairs, was quoted by the North’s state-run news agency slamming as “ignorant” and “stupid” comments Mr Pence made in an interview with Fox News that compared the nuclear-capable North to Libya.

Libya gave up its programme at an early stage only to see its longtime dictator overthrown and brutally killed years later.

The summit plan has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun trading barbs and taking tougher positions.

Mr Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday at the White House for consultations and suggested the summit could be delayed or even called off entirely.

Even so, both sides still seem to want to hold the meeting, which would be unprecedented.

Success in talks would be a huge accomplishment for Mr Trump, while meeting with the US president as an equal on the world stage would be a major coup for Mr Kim.</s>PUNGGYE-RI, North Korea — North Korea carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site Thursday, setting off a series of explosions over several hours in the presence of foreign journalists.

The explosions at the nuclear test site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated northeast were centered on three tunnels at the underground site and a number of buildings in the surrounding area.

The planned closing was previously announced by leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that is scheduled to take place next month.

The demolition came as the North lobbed another verbal salvo at Washington, calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

The North’s decision to close the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the summit.

Even so, it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Trump’s demands for real denuclearization.

By bringing in a small group of television journalists and other members of the news media, the North is likely hoping to have dramatic images of the closing — including explosions to collapse tunnel entrances — broadcast around the world.

The North did not invite international nuclear weapons inspectors to the ceremony.

The first blast visiting journalists witnessed happened about 11 a.m. local time. North Korean officials said it collapsed the north tunnel, which was used for five nuclear tests from 2009 to last year.

Two other explosions about 2:20 p.m. and 4 p.m. demolished the west and south tunnels, according to officials.

Thursday’s demolition also involved the destruction of observation posts and barracks used by guards and other workers at the facility.

Another tunnel on the eastern side of the facility was shut down after an initial nuclear test in 2006.

The journalists who were allowed to witness the demolition arrived in the morning and stayed at the site for about nine hours.

Getting to the remote site required an 11-hour overnight train journey from Wonsan, a port city east of the capital, Pyongyang.

The outburst at Pence, issued in the name of a top Foreign Ministry official, comes on the heels of another sharp rebuke of Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, and has raised concerns that a major gap has opened between the sides just weeks before the June 12 summit in Singapore.

In both cases, Pyongyang was trying to push back against hard-line comments suggesting North Korea might end up like Libya if it doesn’t move forward quickly and irreversibly with concrete measures to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

Choe Son Hui, a vice minister of foreign affairs, was quoted Thursday by the North’s state-run news agency slamming as “ignorant” and “stupid” comments Pence made in an interview with Fox News that compared the nuclear-capable North to Libya.

Libya gave up its program at an early stage only to see its longtime dictator overthrown and brutally killed years later.

The summit plan has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun trading barbs and taking tougher positions.

Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday at the White House for consultations and suggested the summit could be delayed or even called off entirely.

Even so, both sides still seem to want to hold the meeting, which would be unprecedented.

Success in talks would be a huge accomplishment for Trump. Meeting with the U.S. president as an equal on the world stage would be a major coup for Kim.</s>North Korea has carried out what it says is the demolition of its nuclear test site in the presence of foreign journalists.

FILE - This Wednesday, May 23, 2018 satellite file image provided by DigitalGlobe, shows the Punggye-ri test site in North Korea. The demolition happened Thursday at the site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated northeast. The planned closing was previously announced by leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next month. (DigitalGlobe via AP, File)

North Korea carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site Thursday, setting off a series of explosions over several hours in the presence of foreign journalists.

The explosions at the nuclear test site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated northeast were centred on three tunnels at the underground site and a number of buildings in the surrounding area.

The planned closing was previously announced by leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, which is scheduled to take place next month.

The demolition came as the North lobbed another verbal salvo at Washington, calling Vice-President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

The North’s decision to close the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the summit. Even so, it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Trump’s demands for real denuclearization.

By bringing in a small group of television journalists and other members of the news media, the North is likely hoping to have dramatic images of the closing — including explosions to collapse tunnel entrances — broadcast around the world.

The group of journalists that witnessed the demolition included an Associated Press Television crew.

The North did not invite international nuclear weapons inspectors to the ceremony.

The first blast visiting journalists witnessed happened at around 11 a.m. local time. North Korean officials said it collapsed the north tunnel, which was used for five nuclear tests between 2009 and last year.

Two other explosions at around 2:20 p.m. and 4 p.m. demolished the west and south tunnels, according to officials.

Thursday’s demolition also involved the destruction of observation posts and barracks used by guards and other workers at the facility.

Another tunnel on the eastern side of the facility was shut down after an initial nuclear test in 2006.

The journalists who were allowed to witness the demolition arrived in the morning and stayed at the site for around nine hours.

Getting to the remote site required an 11-hour overnight train journey from Wonsan, a port city east of the capital, Pyongyang.

The outburst at Pence, issued in the name of a top Foreign Ministry official, comes on the heels of another sharp rebuke of Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, and has raised concerns that a major gap has opened between the two sides just weeks before the June 12 summit in Singapore.

In both cases, Pyongyang was trying to push back against hard-line comments suggesting North Korea may end up like Libya if it doesn’t move forward quickly and irreversibly with concrete measures to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

Choe Son Hui, a vice minister of foreign affairs, was quoted Thursday by the North’s state-run news agency slamming as “ignorant” and “stupid” comments Pence made in an interview with Fox News that compared the nuclear-capable North to Libya. Libya gave up its program at an early stage only to see its longtime dictator overthrown and brutally killed years later.

The summit plan has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun trading barbs and taking tougher positions. Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday at the White House for consultations and suggested the summit could be delayed or even called off entirely.

Even so, both sides still seem to want to hold the meeting, which would be unprecedented.

Success in talks would be a huge accomplishment for Trump. Meeting with the U.S. president as an equal on the world stage would be a major coup for Kim.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>(CNN) To Kim Jong Un, May 24 should have been a diplomatic triumph. The North Korean leader had just opened the doors of his isolated country to the world, allowing foreign journalists to observe what had deemed a crowning achievement in Pyongyang's nuclear quest.

The test site at Punggye-Ri was to be dismantled, he'd announced earlier this year, because North Korea had accomplished its nuclear goals and no longer needed to keep conducting missile launches.

Still on a high from his visits with foreign leaders and the anticipation of a meeting -- finally -- with a sitting American president, he declared international journalists would be welcome to witness his regime's transparency in destroying tunnels and shutting down the mountain

It was a far cry from last year, when he'd boasted of North Korea's ability to send missiles to the US mainland, ratcheting up threats of nuclear annihilation as President Donald Trump responded in equally fiery tones.

But after nearly six months of calm dotted with bright moments of unity and promises of reconciliation and peace, the Korean peninsula is once again thrust into uncertainty after Trump informed Kim that the summit was canceled.

In the weeks leading up to the historic meeting both sides had criticized the other while also promising economic rejuvenation and expressing readiness to resolve decades-long conflicts.

But they had also both threatened to pull out of the talks, and they had both promised to deploy military options should diplomacy fail.

"Well, I think North Korea almost dared Trump to cancel the summit, and he did it," said Srinivasan Sitaraman, political science professor at Clark University. "The North Korean statement yesterday was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back," he said, referring to the statement by Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, which referred to US Vice President Mike Pence as "a political dummy" who'd made "ignorant and stupid remarks."

"I don't think after yesterday's North Korean statement there was any way for the summit to go forward," he told CNN.

Like other North Korean experts Sitaraman believes it's best the summit not happen because there is still bad blood between the two parties, and zero trust.

"There is fundamental misunderstanding between the American and the North Korean positions," he said. "North Korea never ever promised that they would give up their weapons, while the US continued to demand full denuclearization and surrender."

Whether the end of talks might lead to the resumption of hostilities is an open question.

"The US and North Korea need some time for full consideration of what has made such failure," said Chang-Hoon Shin, a senior research fellow with the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy. "In the absence of mutual credibility, the differences of opinions and methods to a long journey of denuclearization continued to be widened. I mean, the failure was inevitable."

In Seoul, an embarrassed President Moon Jae-in, who had met with Trump in Washington less than 24 hours earlier, hurriedly convened an emergency meeting of his cabinet to attempt to decipher the meaning of Trump's decision, and where South Korea, which has been at the forefront of talks with North Korea, goes next.

"South Korea's mediator or driver-seat role has failed, and President Moon and his staff will come under heavy criticism," said Seong Whun Cheon, a visiting research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. The two Koreas' plan to end the war and sign a peace treaty "will be derailed for an unforeseeable period of time," he predicted.

"I'm already beginning to see some statements from South Korea that seem to intimate that it might try to salvage the summit with Moon up for re-election soon, and the immense domestic reverberation that the cancellation will bring," said Sitaraman.

"South Korea might try to decouple all of the issues they are trying to work out with the North and table the "full denuclearization" aspect while working towards their other goals," he told CNN.

In his letter to Kim, Trump left the door open to future talks, and indeed, now that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already traveled to Pyongyang twice and met with Kim on both occasions, that channel may be able to prevent immediate military reactions, says David Maxwell, a retired US Army Special Forces colonel and a fellow at the Institute of Korean American Studies.

"Maybe in the long run this will put us on the track to have our diplomats engage and set the scene for something to happen over the next six months," he told CNN.

A potential problem will come with reaction in Beijing and Moscow, he noted. Both North Korean allies, Russia and China have yielded to pressure from the US to enact punishing economic sanctions on North Korea. The White House has claimed those were instrumental in bringing Kim to the negotiating table in the first place.

Given that Trump, and not Kim has walked away from the June meeting, both nations can now potentially relax those sanctions and blame the US for the failure in diplomacy, says Maxwell.

"I think China and Russia will say: 'You backed out of the invitation, the US is the one that is acting irrationally, that is operating irresponsibly, so we need to ease up on the sanctions to help the Korean people,' so they have the justification for reducing the sanctions," he said. "In some ways, Kim is still playing a masterful game."

Maxwell speculates that Kim might have been skittish about coming to the summit because he would have had to stand before the world and agree to terms that he may not have been able to sell back home. It's possible, Maxwell argues, that North Korea turned up the rhetoric to extort a response from Trump and prompt the US to back out first.

"I think they reverted to their old playbook, cause tensions to rise and have them cancel," he posited. "The test site destruction was simply a sham and I think that's been exposed, and the only reason for continuing the summit, the only benefit he would get, is a direct meeting with the President."

It's possible, Maxwell says, that Kim calculated that even such a tempting prize was not worth the risk, if it weakened his position at home.
North Korea sets off a series of explosions to demolish the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site to build confidence before the scheduled summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.