President Trump said Friday he has received a “beautiful” letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the midst of renewed tensions.

“It was a very positive letter,” Mr. Trump said of the three-page, handwritten note. “I think we’ll have another meeting. He really wrote a beautiful letter. Maybe I’ll release the results of the letter, but it was very positive.”

Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House that the believes he and Mr. Kim will have another meeting. The letter hand-delivered Thursday comes after North Korea has launched a series of short-range missile tests.

Mr. Kim has conducted the tests in an apparent response to renewed joint military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea.

The president and Mr. Kim have held two summits aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, and they held an impromptu meeting this summer at the demilitarized zone between the North and South.

Mr. Trump did reveal that Mr. Kim conveyed his unhappiness about the joint military exercises in South Korea.

“He wasn’t happy with the war games, it’s a very small testing that we did,” Mr. Trump said. “He put that in the letter. I don’t like it, either.”

But the president said he agreed to the exercises because they involve South Korean forces taking over certain responsibilities from the U.S. military in the region.

“In the meantime, I say it again, there have been no nuclear tests,” he said of the North. “The missile tests have all been short-range, no ballistic missile tests, no long-range missiles.” </s> US President Donald Trump said Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to resume denuclearization talks after US-South Korean war games end.

Trump tweeted that in a letter to him, Kim apologized for a recent spate of missile tests, the latest of which came at daybreak Saturday Korean time, and said they were to protest these joint military drills.

Trump said he looks “forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!”

“In a letter to me sent by Kim Jong Un, he stated, very nicely, that he would like to meet and start negotiations as soon as the joint U.S./South Korea joint exercise are over,” Trump wrote.

The exercises began Monday and are due to last another week. North Korea has said the recent short-range missile tests are designed to protest the war games.

On Saturday, Trump again seemed to side with Kim by criticizing the exercises, which are a cornerstone of US-South Korean military cooperation.

“It was a long letter, much of it complaining about the ridiculous and expensive exercises. It was also a small apology for testing the short range missiles, and that this testing would stop when the exercises end,” Trump said.

Trump has appeared determined to secure a denuclearization agreement with North Korea ahead of next year’s US presidential elections, despite faltering talks since he first met Kim in a historic ice-breaking summit in Singapore in June 2018.

Even after their abortive second summit in February, Trump has been reluctant to criticize the North Korean leader.

Trump has repeatedly talked up his close personal relationship with Kim, as his administration seeks to resume the stalled denuclearisation talks with the North.

On Friday he described the message he got from Kim as “a very beautiful letter.”

In June he offered an olive branch by meeting Kim in the Panmunjon truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, becoming the first sitting US president ever to step inside the North.

On Friday, Trump said the missile launches were not important.

“I’ll say it again. There have been no nuclear tests. The missile tests have all been short-range. No ballistic missile tests, no long-range missiles,” Trump said.

Defence officials in Seoul said what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles were fired at daybreak Saturday from near the northeastern city of Hamhung, flying 400 kilometres (250 miles) before splashing down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

Washington and Seoul pledged in March to scale down their joint drills in an effort to foster denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang.

In contrast to Trump’s dismissal of the missile launches, others in the US administration have voiced opposition to them.

After Pyongyang’s fourth launch early this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was ready to resume talks, but that the target of the “full, final denuclearisation of North Korea” had not changed.

A senior State Department official who refused to be named told journalists last week that the missile tests were an impediment to peace.

“The missile launches, any kind of provocations, are not helpful to advancing the cause of diplomacy,” the official said. </s> Washington: US President Donald Trump said Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had apologized over a recent spate of missile tests and wanted to resume denuclearization talks as soon as US-South Korean military exercises end.



Trump tweeted that Kim made these statements in a letter to him and that he looks "forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!"

"In a letter to me sent by Kim Jong Un, he stated, very nicely, that he would like to meet and start negotiations as soon as the joint U.S./South Korea joint exercise are over," Trump wrote.

"It was a long letter, much of it complaining about the ridiculous and expensive exercises. It was also a small apology for testing the short range missiles, and that this testing would stop when the exercises end," Trump said. </s> U.S. President Donald Trump received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about scheduling a second meeting between the two leaders, and the White House wants it to take place, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday. Sanders described the letter as “warm” and “positive.” She told reporters that a military parade in Pyongyang on Sunday was a sign of progress in talks on denuclearization because it did not feature any long-range nuclear missiles. </s> President Donald Trump said on Friday he had just received a “very beautiful letter” from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and added that he could have another meeting with him.

Speaking to reporters, Trump did not say when such a meeting might take place. North Korea has been testing missiles despite a June 30 meeting between Trump and Kim at which the two agreed to revive stalled working-level talks, which have yet to resume.

Trump told reporters at the White House the letter was hand-delivered on Thursday, but did not say who delivered it.

“It was a very positive letter,” he said. “I think we’ll have another meeting. He really wrote a beautiful, three-page – I mean great from top to bottom – a really beautiful letter.”

Trump and Kim have met three times since last year to discuss ways to resolve a crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but progress has been scant on Washington’s aim of getting the North Korea leader to give up his weapons.

Trump said Kim had said he was “not happy” about the missile tests, which the North Korean leader has said were a response to US-South Korean military drills being held this month. Trump said he himself had “never been a fan” of the war games.

“You know why? I don’t like paying for it. We should be reimbursed for it and I have told that to South Korea.

“But I said, ‘do this,’ because this is a big test; this was a turnover of various areas to South Korea. I like that, because that’s what should happen.”

Trump will have dismayed long-time US ally South Korea with renewed criticisms over military alliance cost-sharing, while praising Kim. In rambling comments to journalists, Trump also took aim at another key ally, Japan, which is currently engaged in a damaging feud with South Korea.

“I hope that South Korea and Japan start getting along with each other. You know, they’re supposed to be allies,” he said.

“It puts us in a very difficult position, South Korea and Japan and fighting all the time. They’ve got to get along.”

The recent North Korean missile tests raised questions about the future of dialogue. Trump, keen to tout his North Korea policy as a success ahead of his 2020 reelection bid, has played them down, saying they do not violate Kim’s pledge to forego nuclear and long-range tests.

As well as launching short-range missiles, Pyongyang has warned of a possible end to its freeze of nuclear and long-range missile tests in place since 2017, which Trump has repeatedly pointed to as evidence of the success of more than a year of engagement with Kim.

North Korea has complained that US-South Korea military drills violate a pledge by Trump to Kim. At their first summit in Singapore in June last year, Trump pledged a suspension of major military exercises with South Korea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he was hopeful talks would resume with North Korea in coming weeks and that the US side was planning for negotiations in a couple of weeks.

A summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February collapsed as the sides did not narrow differences over US demands for North Korea to give up all its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang’s demands for relief from punishing sanctions.

Despite the lack of progress and spikes in tensions, Trump and Kim have avoided direct criticism of each other and have exchanged periodic letters in between their summit meetings.

While Trump has hailed his personal relationship with Kim, critics say the US president’s approach has allowed North Korea further time to develop its weapons programs with little tangible gain for the United States. </s> President Donald Trump has said he had received a “very beautiful letter” from the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and added that he could have another meeting with him.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump did not say when such a meeting would take place. North Korea has been testing missiles despite a 30 June meeting between Trump and Kim at which the two agreed to revive stalled working-level talks, which have yet to resume.

Trump and Kim have met three times since last year to discuss ways to resolve a crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but progress has been scant on Washington’s aim of getting the North Korea leader to give up his weapons.

The recent missile tests have raised questions about the future of dialogue. Pyongyang has warned of a possible end to its freeze of nuclear and long-range missile tests in place since 2017. Trump has repeatedly pointed to that freeze as evidence of the success of more than a year of engagement with Kim.

Keen to tout his North Korea policy as a success ahead of his 2020 re-election bid, Trump has sought to play down the missile launches, saying they do not violate Kim’s pledge to forgo nuclear and long-range tests.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Wednesday he was hopeful talks would resume in coming and that the US side was planning for negotiations in a couple of weeks.

A summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February collapsed over a failure to narrow differences over US demands for North Korea to give up all of its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang’s demands for relief from punishing sanctions. </s> FARGO, N.D. — President Donald Trump says he's expecting get a letter in the coming days that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sending him through Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump tells reporters traveling with him on Air Force One that Kim's recent overtures amount to "a very positive statement what he said about me and also what he said about he wants to denuclearize during the Trump administration."

South Korean officials who met with Kim this week say they forwarded a message from Trump and that Kim gave them a message to deliver to Trump. They're not discussing the contents of the messages.

Just two weeks ago, Trump called off a planned trip by Pompeo to North Korea. Trump cited insufficient progress by the Kim on his commitment to denuclearizing. </s> FARGO, N.D. -- President Donald Trump says he's expecting get a letter in the coming days that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sending him through Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump tells reporters travelling with him on Air Force One that Kim's recent overtures amount to "a very positive statement what he said about me and also what he said about he wants to denuclearize during the Trump administration."

South Korean officials who met with Kim this week say they forwarded a message from Trump and that Kim gave them a message to deliver to Trump. They're not discussing the contents of the messages.

Just two weeks ago, Trump called off a planned trip by Pompeo to North Korea. Trump cited insufficient progress by the Kim on his commitment to denuclearizing. </s> BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that North Korea's Kim Jong Un wants to meet once again to "start negotiations" after joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises end. He also said Kim apologized for the flurry of recent short-range missile tests that has rattled U.S. allies in the region.

Trump is tweeting more details from the "beautiful" three-page letter he told reporters on Friday that he'd received from Kim. Trump, who is on vacation at his golf club in New Jersey, said Kim spent much of his letter complaining about "the ridiculous and expensive exercises," which North Korea sees as a threat.

He said Kim offered him "a small apology" for the recent tests and assured him "that this testing would stop when the exercises end." North Korea on Saturday fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korea's military — the fifth round of launches in less than three weeks.

"I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!" Trump wrote.

The two leaders have met three times — in Singapore, Hanoi and at the Korean Demilitarized Zone — but critics say Trump has received few concessions in the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for the meetings.

At their second summit in Vietnam in February, Trump rejected Kim's demand for widespread sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling the North's main nuclear complex, a partial disarmament step.

The U.S. and South Korea have scaled down their major military exercises since Trump and Kim's first summit in June 2018. But the North insists even the downsized drills violate agreements between Kim and Trump and compel it to "develop, test and deploy the powerful physical means essential for national defense."

When they last met in June of this year, Trump and Kim agreed to resume working-level nuclear talks that have been stalled since February, but there have been no known meetings between the two sides since then.
In a letter sent by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to U.S. President Donald Trump, Kim apologizes for the testing of short-range missiles. Trump says he expects to meet Kim soon and see a denuclearized North Korea as "one of the most successful countries in the world".