North Korean state media issued a report Sunday confirming that Kim Jong Un has received an “excellent” letter from President Trump. The report went on to say that Kim was planning to “seriously contemplate” the content.
President Trump has confirmed recently that he’d received a letter from
Kim. It is unusual for North Korea to confirm that Trump has responded
in writing, which suggests North Korea considers this letter very
significant.
It may well be, at a time when US-North Korea talks have been
effectively halted for months. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed hope in his own comments that Trump’s letter might pave way for new talks.
It is unclear what the content of President Trump’s letter was.
Generally speaking, direct talks between Trump and Kim have gone much
better than negotiations between anyone else in US-North Korea
interactions.
That is the reason South Korean officials, intensely interested in
getting the US track of talks back running, have been urging Trump and
Kim to agree to another summit, hoping to improve the situation after a
failed Hanoi summit put negotiations on a multi-month hold.
North Korean officials have also expressed interest in direct Trump-Kim
talks, while seeing the likes of Pompeo as holding up progress with
their own positions on the matter.
North Korea Says Kim Gets ‘Excellent’ Letter From Trump
Pompeo hopes letter can restart US-North Korea talks
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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