Donald Trump says sanctions are hurting North Korea and he is in no rush for a deal with Kim Jong-un
- Trump on Tuesday said he had received a very warm letter from Kim, calling the correspondence ‘beautiful’
Trump, asked about North Korea’s sanctions violations in an interview with Fox News, said “everybody tries to break sanctions”, adding that the sanctions are hurting North Korea and that the US is continuing to impose them.
Trump on Tuesday said he had received a very warm letter from Kim, calling the correspondence “beautiful”.
Washington is seeking to rebuild momentum in stalled talks with Pyongyang, aimed at getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.
Trump spoke a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Kim’s slain half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, was a source for the US Central Intelligence Agency. Kim Jong-nam was killed at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2017.
“I did receive a beautiful letter from Kim Jong-un … I appreciated the letter. I saw the information about CIA with respect to his brother, or half-brother. And I will tell him that will not happen under my … I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“A very warm, very nice letter,” Trump said. “I think North Korea has tremendous potential.”
Kim Jong-un’s slain half-brother ‘was a CIA informant’
He did not rule out another meeting soon with Kim. Trump is due to travel to Japan and South Korea later this month.
Trump said Kim had thus far kept his promises not to test long-range ballistic missiles or conduct underground nuclear tests.
Trump insists ‘very smart’ Kim knows he must give up nukes
In May, North Korea conducted a “strike drill” for multiple launchers, firing tactical guided weapons in a military drill supervised by Kim.
Trump said at the time that these launches did not pose a problem in his eyes, although his advisers called them a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Additional reporting by The Guardian
