Kim Jong Un’s extra-large letter to Trump sparks reaction

The announcement came after Trump hosted a senior North Korean envoy at the White House, who conveyed a personal letter by Kim that was inside a white envelope almost as large as a folded newspaper.

Dong Hyuk Lee, chief of VOA’s Korean service, weighs in on what we can expect from both sides in the lead-up to the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “If it’s a positive meeting I love it – if it’s a negative meeting I’m not happy”, he said.

“Kim would begin by praising Trump’s leadership and his “bold decision” to build up the summit, ” said Koh, who is also a policy adviser to the South Korean president.

United States officials said that at the White House, Kim Yong Chol would deliver a letter that may not clear up all the questions about the agenda but may bring the planned Singapore meeting a step closer.

The North Korean delegation may also need to travel on a plane provided by another country, the newspaper reported. The president and the North Korean delegates then posed for group photographs.

During the upcoming Japan-U.S. summit, Abe is expected to call on Trump to bring up the abduction issue in his meeting with Kim.

United States officials said the letter from Kim to Trump may not clear up all the questions about the agenda, but may bring the planned Singapore meeting a step closer.

“Even a peace agreement can be made without China as it would not be a transformation of the 1953 armistice”, Lee said, adding that it would be more effective to involve China in the deal but it would then make its own demands – likely aimed at weakening U.S. influence in the region.

The 348-square meter Shangri-la Suite in the Valley Wing of the Shangri-la is priced at $10,000 for the June 12 night.

Since that short-lived crisis, diplomats from both countries have conducted an intense flurry of talks, culminating this week when Pompeo sat down in NY with Kim’s envoy.

He also said the USA could withdraw its troops in South Korea if the upcoming talks go well, but it will not be “on the table nor should it be” at the Singapore summit.

The June 12 meeting in Singapore, the first between heads of the technically still-warring nations, is meant to begin the process of ending North Korea’s nuclear program, and Trump said he believes Kim is committed to that goal.

Trump’s cancellation was prompted by a drastic change in rhetoric my Kim and senior North Korean officials in early May. Pyongyang responded with a temperate statement indicating a desire to still hold the summit.

Far from being hustled in through the back door of the White House, Kim was welcomed at the south lawn entrance in front of massed ranks of cameras and escorted to the Oval Office, where the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was waiting with Trump. “Maybe, you’ll need to see it and maybe fairly soon”, said Trump. “It’s a process. It’s all a process”. “I told them today, take your time, we can go fast or we can go slowly”. “It’s really “get to know you” kind of a situation”. “And maybe we’ll have none”.