Pompeo gave North Korea letter from Trump to Kim

U.S. representatives attending further talks with North Korean officials in Singapore on Saturday delivered a letter from President Trump addressed to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to the country’s officials.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim presented North Korea’s foreign minister with the letter Saturday, according to The Washington Post, as the two nations’ representatives continued ongoing discussions about denuclearization at a regional conference of Asian nations.

Kim sent a letter to Trump earlier this month and Trump’s letter was a response. The contents of either letter have not been disclosed.

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North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, accepted the letter but did not have a more formal meeting with Pompeo at the summit, according to the Post.

Minutes later, Ri would accuse the U.S. of going against Trump’s directives agreed upon at Kim and Trump’s historic summit in June.

“We have initiated goodwill measures of, inter alia, a moratorium on nuclear tests and rocket launch tests and dismantling of nuclear test ground,” Ri said Saturday.

“However, the United States, instead of responding to these measures, is raising its voice louder for maintaining the sanctions against the DPRK and showing the attitude to retreat even from declaring the end of the war, a very basic and primary step for providing peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he added, using the acronym for the official name for North Korea.

Ri added, however, that his country remains committed to the framework of the agreement struck between the two leaders to seek eventual denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“The DPRK stands firm in its determination and commitment for implementing the DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement in a responsible and good-faith manner,” he said.

Trump issued praise for Kim this week over North Korea’s return of U.S. remains from the Korean War, a key point the two leaders agreed on in June. He also appeared to suggest this week that the two leaders could meet for a second time.

“Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also, thank you for your nice letter – l look forward to seeing you soon!” the president tweeted on Thursday.