WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Jul 12) again signalled optimism about efforts to end the nuclear standoff with North Korea, as he took…
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Jul 12) again signalled optimism about efforts to end the nuclear standoff with North Korea, as he took the extraordinary diplomatic step of tweeting out a letter from Kim Jong Un.
The four-paragraph letter – an upbeat missive in which Kim voices hope in a “new future” and speaks of his “invariable trust” in Trump – is dated Jul 6, the day Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in North Korea for what turned out to be acrimonious talks with Kim’s regime.
“A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea,” Trump tweeted alongside a copy of the letter. “Great progress being made!”
Addressing Trump, Kim describes their Jun 12 summit in Singapore, and the resulting joint statement, as the “start of a meaningful journey.”
“I firmly believe that the strong will, sincere efforts and unique approach of myself and Your Excellency Mr. President aimed at opening up a new future between the DPRK and the U. S. will surely come to fruition,” Kim writes, according to the translation tweeted by the president.
“I deeply appreciate the energetic and extraordinary efforts made by Your Excellency Mr President for the improvement of relations between the two countries and the faithful implementation of the joint statement,” he adds.
Kim also voices hope “the invariable trust and confidence in Your Excellency Mr. President will be further strengthened in the future process of taking practical actions.”
Pompeo travelled to Pyongyang for two days last week in a bid to flesh out denuclearisation commitments made during last month’s historic summit.
Speaking afterwards in Tokyo, Pompeo insisted the talks were making progress and were being conducted in “good faith.
