{"id":61555,"date":"2018-02-21T02:08:11","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T02:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/21\/us-north-korea-canceled-meeting-with-pence-at-last-minute\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:17:15","slug":"us-north-korea-canceled-meeting-with-pence-at-last-minute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/02\/21\/us-north-korea-canceled-meeting-with-pence-at-last-minute\/","title":{"rendered":"US: North Korea canceled meeting with Pence at last minute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Vice President Mike Pence was all set to hold a history-making meeting with North Korean officials during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but Kim Jong Un\u2019s government canceled at the last minute, the Trump administration said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A potential meeting between Pence and the North Koreans<\/a> had been the most highly anticipated moment of the vice president\u2019s visit to Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he led the U.S delegation to the opening ceremonies. Ahead of Pence\u2019s visit, Trump officials had insisted they\u2019d requested no meeting with North Korea, but notably left open the possibility<\/a> one could occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no indication that a meeting had indeed been planned \u2014 and then canceled on short notice \u2014 until Tuesday, more than a week after Pence returned to the United States. The State Department said that Pence had been \u201cready to take this opportunity\u201d but would have used it to insist Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the last minute, DPRK officials decided not to go forward with the meeting,\u201d said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, using an acronym for the North\u2019s formal name, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea. \u201cWe regret their failure to seize this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t