Kim ‘satisfaction’ over Trump letter as talks approach

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has expressed “great satisfaction” after receiving a letter from US President Donald Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, Pyongyang’s state media reported yesterday. Kim is making “good technical preparations” for the meeting, the official KCNA news agency said, in the isolated nation’s first comments on the talks scheduled for next month.

The letter was handed to Kim by one of his right-hand men, vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, who met Trump at the White House last week as the two countries seek a denuclearisation accord that could ease decades of hostility. “(Kim) spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-US summit,” KCNA said, referring to the North by its official name.

The strongman said North Korea will “believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump” as the countries advance “step by step” towards their goals, the agency added. A Vietnamese government source said “logistical preparations” were under way to host the encounter, most likely in Hanoi or coastal city of Danang.