The comments came just a day after Trump canceled the meeting, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility.”

After years of tension over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, Kim and Trump agreed this month to hold what would be the first meeting between a serving U.S. president and a North Korean leader. In a letter to Kim released Thursday morning, Trump said the face-to-face meeting, set to take place on June 12 in Singapore, was “inappropriate” to have “at this time.”

“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,” Trump wrote. “This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.”

He also delivered a thinly veiled threat against the North Korean regime, whose Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui warned Thursday that the “behavior of the United States” will determine if the two countries will meet “at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.”

“You talk about your nuclear capabilities,” Trump wrote, “but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.” That jab echoed a taunt Trump made at Kim on Jan. 2, when he boasted that his nuclear button is “much bigger and more powerful” than Kim’s. Dozens of international journalists left North Korea on Saturday after observing the demolition of the underground tunnels in Punggye-ri, where all of the North’s six nuclear tests were conducted including its latest and largest in September. SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a surprise meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday to ensure a summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump goes off successfully, South Korean officials said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says North Korea did not respond to repeated requests from U.S. officials to discuss logistics for the now-canceled summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But more consequential than the demolition was a statement released the same morning by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who was none too pleased with the comments made earlier in the week by Vice President Pence. It remains to be seen how North Korea will react to Trump’s cancelation, but the president warned in a press conference Thursday that America’s military would be “ready if necessary.” He also said that “our very strong sanctions” and “maximum pressure campaign” would continue in North Korea, but left open the possibility that the meeting could still take place at some point.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweets that "very productive talks" are being held with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on reinstating the June 12 Singapore summit, which he had cancelled Thursday.