Trump Says He Got ‘Beautiful’ Letter From Kim, But Not Ready for Meeting
President Donald Trump extended an olive branch to North Korea, complimenting Kim Jong Un for sending him a “warm” letter.
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump extended an olive branch to North Korea on Tuesday, complimenting Kim Jong Un for sending him a “warm” letter and saying he wouldn’t have allowed the CIA to recruit the dictator’s slain brother as an intelligence asset.
“I just received a beautiful letter from Kim Jong Un, and I think the relationship is very well,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House.
The president also offered an unusually candid response when asked about reports that the CIA had cultivated Kim’s half-brother as a source.
“I wouldn’t let that happen under my auspices,” Trump said. “I don’t know anything about that. I know that the relationship is such that that wouldn’t happen under my auspices, but I don’t know about that. Nobody knows.”
Kim’s half brother, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated in February 2017 with a nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Kim Jong Nam had traveled there to meet with his CIA contact. U.S. and South Korean officials have blamed Pyongyang for the murder; North Korea has denied involvement.
Trump said Tuesday he’s not yet ready to meet with the North Korean leader for what would be a third time, but his remarks show that he’s trying to keep the dialogue open. U.S. officials have said contact between the two sides has been severely limited since February, when talks between Trump and Kim ground to a halt at a summit in Hanoi without a deal or any substantial progress toward stripping Kim’s regime of its nuclear weapons program.
Trump said talks between U.S. and North Korean nuclear negotiators need to advance before another meeting.
Earlier, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said at a Wall Street Journal event in Washington that a third meeting between Trump and Kim was “entirely possible” and that the U.S. is “ready when they are.”
Kim’s enthusiasm for talks has come under question following reports that he initiated a purge within his regime, executing or imprisoning his top negotiators after Trump walked out of the Hanoi summit.
--With assistance from Margaret Talev and Nick Wadhams.
To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu
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