North Korea abruptly announced that it is pulling out of a planned meeting with South Korean officials because of on-going military drills between the United States and South Korea. According to Yonhap News, North Korea said that the "Max Thunder drills between the South Korean and U.S. air forces are a rehearsal for invasion of the North and a provocation amid warming inter-Korean ties."
"This exercise targeting us, which is being carried out across South Korea, is a flagrant challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration and an intentional military provocation running counter to the positive political development on the Korean Peninsula.
The United States will also have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-U.S. summit in light of this provocative military ruckus jointly conducted with the South Korean authorities."
Officials from North and South Korea were scheduled to meet "on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom to discuss follow-up measures to the two Korean leaders' summit last month."
The cancelation of the summit between the two countries puts the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in jeopardy. The two leaders are planning to meet on June 12th in Singapore.