Trump releases 'nice' letter from Kim
US, DPRK expected to meet on Sunday over US soldiers' remains
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed a letter from the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in which Kim Jong-un expressed optimism for future DPRK-US relations.
In the letter posted by Trump on Twitter, Kim called his historic Singapore summit with Trump in mid-June "the start of a meaningful journey".
The DPRK top leader voiced his belief 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 US will surely come to fruition".
"I extend my conviction that the epochal progress in promoting the DPRK-US relations will bring our next meeting forward," Kim said in the letter.
Trump in the tweet called the letter, which was dated on July 6 and provided in Korean along with an English translation, a "nice note" from Kim. "Great progress being made!" Trump claimed.
The date of the letter was around the time when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on a three-day visit to Pyongyang, a trip ending up with Pompeo lauding "progress" while Pyongyang called the talks "regrettable".
US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters on July 6 that Pompeo, though not meeting Kim during his stay, did take a letter from Trump to Kim in Pyongyang.
Hours after Trump's tweet, the US State Department confirmed that US and DPRK officials will meet on Sunday in Panmunjom along the inter-Korean border to discuss the repatriation of the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War (1950-53).
The DPRK side on Thursday "contacted us and offered to meet on July 15th (Sunday)," Nauert said in a statement.
"We will be ready," the spokeswoman added.
As an outcome of the Singapore summit, Pyongyang and Washington agreed to commit to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action during the Korean War, including an immediate repatriation of those already identified.
On Friday, Moon Jae-in, president of the Republic of Korea, urged Trump and Kim to try harder to achieve a breakthrough in their nuclear negotiations.
Moon said at a forum in Singapore that Trump and Kim would "face the stern judgment of the international community" if their promises on denuclearization weren't kept.
Pyongyang has for decades been pushing a concept of denuclearization that bears no resemblance to the US definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its 28,500 troops from the Korean Peninsula and the nuclear umbrella over the ROK and Japan.
Moon, who has met with Kim twice this year and lobbied hard for the summit between Trump and Kim, said he remains optimistic that Washington and Pyongyang would be able to strike a deal.
Xinhua - AFP - Reuters
(China Daily 07/14/2018 page8)
