President Trump spoke late Saturday to South Korean President Moon Jae-in amid increasing concerns in the White House that North Korea is not serious about striking a deal on denuclearization, which has complicated planning for the upcoming Singapore summit. North Korea’s actions in recent days, including its cancellation of a working-level meeting with South Korean officials and a threat to call off Kim’s summit with Trump on June 12, have alarmed the Trump administration and created new complications in the preparations, with just over three weeks left. An advance team from the United States is in Singapore to work out logistics, Trump administration officials said. China has accounted for 90 percent of trade with North Korea, and Beijing’s cooperation in enacting U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea has been a crucial part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy. The president reacted angrily in a national security meeting, according to an administration official, and Xi later wrote a letter assuaging Trump.

Source: Washington Post May 20, 2018 16:52 UTC