Birthday wishes not good enough to resume talks: N Korea to US

Seoul, January 11

North Korea said Saturday it had received Donald Trump’s letter wishing a happy birthday to leader Kim Jong Un, but warned it would only return to nuclear talks if Washington fully accepts its demands.

The US President and Kim have held three meetings since June 2018 but negotiations over denuclearisation have been largely deadlocked since the breakup of a summit in Hanoi last February.

Before the collapse of that meeting, Trump had said that he and Kim had an excellent relationship — and had even “fallen in love”. Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea’s foreign ministry adviser, said on Saturday that Trump’s congratulatory letter to Kim had arrived in the isolated state directly from the US. “As acknowledged by the world, it is true that the personal relations between (Kim Jong Un) and President Trump are not bad,” he said. — AFP