By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) – A delegation of North Korean officials will hand deliver President Donald Trump a letter from Kim Jong-un, Trump said Thursday.
The delegation, which is currently meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York, will deliver the letter on Friday in Washington, according to the American president.
Trump said the talks in New York are “very positive “, and that he “looks forward to seeing what's in the letter “.
“I think it'll be very positive, ” Trump told reporters before departing Washington for Texas. “It's all a process. We'll see, and hopefully we'll have a meeting on the 12th. That's going along very well, but I want it to be meaningful. It doesn't mean it gets all done at one meeting, maybe you have to have a second or a third, and maybe we'll have none. ”
Pyongyang has been holding direct dialogue with its stated enemies South Korea and the United States as they seek an elusive denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Kim’s outreach is set to escalate further if he holds an unprecedented summit with U.S. President Donald Trump as planned on June 12 in Singapore, though Trump’s erratic cancellation and then un-cancellation of the meeting has thrown it into doubt.
Onlookers suggest the North may be seeking economic relief, having faced years of escalating sanctions, especially since Trump took office last year.
Pompeo, who has been critical to Trump's North Korea negotiation efforts, is currently meeting with Kim Yong-chol, Kim Jong-un's right-hand man, in New York for formal talks after the two had dinner Wednesday night.
Pompeo called the talks “substantive “, and said on Twitter he and the senior North Korean official “discussed our priorities for the potential summit between our leaders “.
“The potential summit between @POTUS and Chairman Kim presents #DPRK with a great opportunity to achieve security and economic prosperity. The people of #NorthKorea can have a brighter future and the world can be more peaceful, ” he said in an earlier tweet.
