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.
