US Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Friday that a recently scrapped summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea may still take place if diplomats can pull it off.
"We have got some, possibly some good news on the Korea summit, where it may, if our diplomats can pull it off, may have it back on," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon before a meeting with the Danish defense minister.
President Donald Trump had said a few hours earlier that it was possible a planned summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un could still take place on June 12 as originally planned, just a day after he cancelled the meeting, citing Pyongyang’s "tremendous anger and open hostility."
Trump scrapped the meeting on Thursday after repeated threats by North Korea to pull out of the summit in Singapore over what it saw as confrontational remarks by US officials.
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Mattis said the recent back-and-forth between Trump and North Korea was a part of the "usual give and take" that goes into putting a large summit together.
"The diplomats are still at work on the summit, possibility of a summit, so that is very good news," Mattis said.
Asked if the US military was changing its posture, Mattis said: "We are not changing anything right now, it is steady as she goes. The diplomats are in the lead and in charge and we give them our best wishes to have a fruitful way forward."