Kim Jong Un Has Something to Say About US Summit

He publicly acknowledged it in a Monday meeting
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2018 7:07 AM CDT
Kim Jong Un Finally Speaks of US Summit
In this April 9, 2018, photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea.   (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

President Trump has acknowledged a planned meeting with North Korea, but Kim Jong Un hasn't done the same—until now. Kim made his first public acknowledgement of a meeting with the US, though the BBC reports he did not mention Trump by name. Yonhap reports that state news agency KCNA covered a Monday meeting of the Workers Party by writing that Kim "made a profound analysis and appraisal of the orientation of the development of the north-south relations at present and the prospect of the [North Korea]-US dialogue."

The report came hours after Trump spoke of the summit and its possible timing with reporters during a Cabinet meeting Monday. Politico has his quote: "North Korea, by the way—as you can probably see, we've been in touch with North Korea. We'll be meeting with them sometime in May or early June, and I think there will be great respect paid by both parties." A separate Yonhap report sees the North as "trying to drum up international support for [Kim's] vision for denuclearization" after speaking with an unnamed diplomat who had last week been in Azerbaijan for a meeting with other states. His comment to Yonhap: "With regard to negotiations on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, (the issue) can be resolved with phased, synchronized measures." (More Kim Jong Un stories.)

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