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Trump says Singapore summit with Kim may not take place as planned

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US President says 'very substantial chance' June 12 meeting 'won't work out'

WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was a "substantial chance" his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will not take place as planned on June 12 amid concerns that Mr Kim is resistant to giving up his nuclear weapons.

Mr Trump raised doubts about the Singapore summit in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae In, who went to Washington to urge Mr Trump not to let a rare opportunity with reclusive North Korea slip away.

If the summit is called off or fails, it would be a major blow to what Trump supporters hope will be the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency, and a huge disappointment for the president himself.

"There's a very substantial chance ... it won't work out. And that's okay," Mr Trump told reporters.

"That doesn't mean it won't work out over a period of time. But it may not work out for June 12. But there is a good chance that we'll have the meeting."

Mr Trump said whether the meeting will be held as scheduled will be determined "pretty soon".

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later told reporters they were still planning for a June 12 summit, but he declined to predict whether it would actually take place.

It was unclear whether Mr Trump was truly backing away from the summit or whether he was strategically coaxing North Korea to the table.

The original purpose of Mr Trump and Mr Moon's meeting was to fine-tune a joint strategy for dealing with Mr Kim.

Instead it has become more of a crisis session after Pyongyang last week threatened to pull out of the planned summit.

"Mr Trump doesn't want to look like he wants this summit more than Mr Kim does," said Ms Bonnie Glaser, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

CREDIBLE

"It's a smart move to say that he is willing to postpone," she said. "But to be credible, the president really has to be willing to walk away and I'm not sure he is."

Aides said Mr Trump has been wondering whether Mr Kim is serious about the summit after the abrupt change in tone.

Mr Moon told Mr Trump in their private talks that there was no need to doubt North Korea's will to hold a summit, a South Korean government spokesman told reporters.

US officials have privately expressed concern that Mr Moon, eager to make progress with the North, may have overstated Mr Kim's willingness to negotiate over the dismantling of his nuclear arsenal.

Mr Moon said he realised many were sceptical in the US about the summit, "but I don't think there will be positive developments in history if we just assume that, because it all failed in the past, it will fail again".

Mr Trump reiterated his suggestion that Mr Kim's recent meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping had influenced Mr Kim to harden his stance ahead of the summit.

"President Xi is a world-class poker player," Mr Trump said.

Mr Pompeo later praised China by saying it has offered "historic assistance" in the pressure campaign against North Korea.

The Trump administration is at odds with Beijing over trade.

Mr Trump on Monday urged China, North Korea's main trading partner, to maintain tight sanctions, tweeting that "the word is that recently the border has become much more porous". - REUTERS

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