Kim Jong Un, Putin Pen End-of-Year Letters

And send them to other world leaders
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 30, 2018 7:06 AM CST
World Leaders Send Out New Year Letters
In this April 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in cross the military demarcation line at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone.   (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File)

Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin have racked up plenty of headlines in 2018, and they end the year with one more: Both sent New Year letters that are attracting attention, the former to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the latter to President Trump. Moon described Kim's letter as "warm" in a tweet, which included a photo that showed the top portion of the letter, reports the AP. It reads, "Dear your excellency President Moon Jae-in. Our meeting in Pyongyang feels like yesterday but about 100 days have already passed and now we are at the close of an unforgettable 2018." Moon's office said the letter expressed Kim's intention to keep up a frequent pace of meetings with Moon following three summits this year, and passed along Kim's regrets that he did not visit Seoul in 2018, a planned visit the leaders had agreed upon in September.

As for Putin's letter to Trump, in a statement quoted by Reuters, the Kremlin said the letter "stressed that the [Russia-United States] relations are the most important factor for providing strategic stability and international security. [Putin] confirmed that Russia is open for dialogue with the USA on the most wide-ranging agenda." NBC News terms it a "friendly letter" and notes the Kremlin's own description: a "Christmas and New Year greeting." Putin also sent letters to Theresa May, Shinzo Abe, Xi Jinping, and Bashar al-Assad. (More Kim Jong Un stories.)

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