Top North Korean aide is expected to deliver the letter Friday in Washington
U. S. President Donald Trump is set to receive a personal letter Friday from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of preparations for a potential summit later this month between the two men.
Trump is expected to receive the letter from a senior North Korean official, Kim Yong Chol, who is traveling to Washington. Kim Yong Chol is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States in nearly 20 years. The development comes a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said « real progress » had been made in discussions to revive the potential June 12 summit.
« We’ve made real progress in the last 72 hours in setting the conditions, » Pompeo said at a news conference after meeting with Kim Yong Chol, adding, « There remains a great deal of work to do. »
Pompeo said he believes North Korea is contemplating a new strategic path forward, but he cautioned that the country would « have to choose a path that is fundamentally different » to achieve security – meaning complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization.
« Our two countries face a pivotal moment in our relationship in which it could be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste, » Pompeo said.
Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol met at a U. S. government-leased apartment near the United Nations. They talked over a steak dinner Wednesday and chocolate croissants Thursday morning. The two men met twice before in Pyongyang.
Earlier, President Trump said talks between Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol had been going well, and that he hoped to hold a summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore on the originally scheduled date of June 12.
