• North Korea’s Kim writes Trump 

  By Eje peter 

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un, has written a note to U.S. President  Donald Trump, describing the American leader as “energetic and extraordinary”.

Trump, in a tweet acknowledging the letter, described it as “a very nice note” adding, “great progress being made’’.

“A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea. Great progress being made!’’ Trump tweeted.

In the letter, dated July 6, Kim recalled the historic meeting between the two leaders in Singapore on June 12, saying it was the start of a meaningful journey.

Kim said: “The significant first meeting with Your Excellency and the joint statement that we signed together in Singapore 24 days ago was indeed the start of a meaningful journey.

“I deeply appreciate the energetic and extraordinary efforts made by Your Excellency Mr President for the improvement of relations between the two countries and the faithful implementation of the joint statement.

“I firmly believe that the strong will, sincere efforts and unique approach of myself and Your Excellency Mr President aimed at opening up a new future between the DPRK and the U.S. will surely come to fruition.

“Wishing that the invariable trust and confidence in Your Excellency Mr President will be further strengthened in the future process of taking practical actions.

“I extend my conviction that the epochal progress in promoting the DPRK-U.S. relations will bring our next meeting forward’’.

There were reports that North Korea had, rather than dismantled its nuclear programme, satellite images showed that it was actually upgrading its nuclear facilities.

Following the reports, Trump had, however, expressed “confidence” that Kim would honour the contract they signed in Singapore.

Trump, on Monday, tweeted: “I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honour the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake.

“We agreed to the denuclearisation of North Korea.

“China, on the other hand, maybe exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!’’

(TEVB)