Have a good Un! Donald Trump ‘sent Kim Jong-un a personal congratulatory message’ on the North Korean dictator’s 36th birthday
- South Korea’s national security adviser met with Donald Trump in DC this week
- He said Trump gave him a birthday message for North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
- Chung Eui-yong added that the message was relayed to North Korea Thursday
- Kim’s birthday is on January 8 and it is thought the dictator turned 36 this year
Donald Trump has sent a ‘happy birthday’ message to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Chung Eui-yong, South Korea’s national security adviser, said Trump gave him the message to pass along to Kim during a meeting in Washington on Wednesday.
Chung told South Korean media that Trump wanted President Moon Jae-in to relay the message, and believes it was delivered the next day.
Donald Trump sent Kim Jong-un a happy birthday message via South Korea, a diplomat who met him in Washington this week said. Kim is thought to have turned 36 on Wednesday
Chung did not reveal the exact contents of the message, and did not say how it was received by the North Koreans.
Kim’s birthday is on January 8, and he is thought to have turned 36 years old.
While in Washington, Chung also had talks with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.
Also present during the meeting with O’Brien was Shigeru Kitamura, Japan’s national security adviser.
Trump’s message comes amid tense relations between the US and North Korea after talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear programme collapsed last year.
Kim has repeatedly threatened to restart weapons testing if America will not return to the negotiating table, while Trump has warned Kim that he has ‘everything to lose’ if he fails to abide by an agreement not to test long-range missiles.
North Korea had promised a ‘Christmas present’ for the US when it appeared talks would not resume any time soon, but it has failed to materialise.
Kim Jong-un has also failed to give his traditional New Year’s address, in which he lays out priorities for the year ahead and reveals what kind of relations North Korea will seek with the rest of the world.
Chung Eui-yong, South Korea’s national security adviser (right, alongside counterparts from the US Robert O’Brien and Japan Shigeru Kitamura), said Donald Trump relayed the message to him and asked that South Korean President Moon Jae-in give it to Kim
Instead, state TV aired an hour-long documentary about his two journeys up Mount Paektu, the highest mountain in North Korea and a place of spiritual significance for the Kim regime.
North Korean leaders traditionally visit the site when considering changes in direction for their nation, leading observers to believe the young dictator is still weighing up his options.
The Hermit State claims to have developed nuclear weapons capable of striking anywhere on Earth, including all of mainland United States.
Kim has offered to ‘denuclearise’ the Korean peninsula, in return for an easing of US economic sanctions and security guarantees for his regime.
However, talks have come unstuck over whether North Korea must destroy its nukes before sanctions are lifted – as the US insists – or whether both should happen at the same time – as Pyongyang wants.
It is also unclear what exactly ‘denuclearise’ means – while some in Washington insist it means the complete dismantling of the North Korean nuclear arsenal, analysts believe it could also involve re-positioning American weapons so they cannot target North Korea.