Trump pointed to the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in recent North Korean statements as cause for his cancellation.
North Korea is known to detain U.S. citizens for thin reasons and sentence them to hard labor, and a U.S. journalist inside the country said things were “very awkward and uncomfortable.”
President Donald Trump canceled his much-awaited summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday while about 30 international journalists, including many US citizens, were still in the country.
Trump pointed to the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in recent North Korean statements as cause for his cancellation. But besides the string of angry statements, North Korea had undertaken another initiative: Inviting in foreign media to witness the destruction of its nuclear testing site.
Journalists from U.S., U.K., Russian, Chinese, and South Korean news outlets traveled to North Korea to cover the event that took place on Thursday.
“Being inside this country just hours after they blew up a nuclear site.. it’s very awkward and uncomfortable moment right now,” said CNN’s Will Ripley, who is in North Korea.
North Korea is known to detain U.S. citizens for thin reasons and sentence them to hard labor. Most recently, a college student was sentenced to hard labor for attempting to take a poster from a hotel. The student was eventually returned to his parents in the U.S. in a coma, and he died days after coming home.
North Korea recently released three U.S. detainees, who reportedly also were subject to hard labor. Holding U.S. citizens gives North Korea leverage in talks with the U.S.
In Trump’s letter to Kim Jong Un, he thanked him for releasing the detainees.
This article was originally published on Business Insider. Copyright 2018.
