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SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on Saturday (October 3), wishing they would recover from the COVID-19 disease, state media reported.
“I sincerely hoped they would recover as soon as possible. I was hoping they would surely get over it, “the Korean Central News Agency reported.” I send a cordial greeting “.
Trump said Friday that he and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, and leaders from around the world sent messages of goodwill to the couple.
LEE: Trump, affected by COVID-19, goes to the military hospital
Kim and Trump once exchanged threats of total destruction and crude insults after North Korea in 2017 carried out a series of high-profile weapons tests aimed at acquiring the ability to launch nuclear strikes in the U.S. Trump had said it would rain “fire and fury” on North Korea and mocked Kim as a “little rocket man” on a suicide mission, while Kim replied that he would “tame the mentally deranged insane America with fire.”
But they stopped that rhetoric and instead developed personal relationships after Kim abruptly approached Trump in 2018 to discuss the fate of his advancing nuclear arsenal.
They met three times, beginning with a summit in Singapore in June 2018 that made Trump the first sitting US president to meet with a North Korean leader since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War. But their Meetings made little progress since their second summit in Vietnam ended without any agreement following disputes over US sanctions on North Korea.
Before their nuclear talks got to a standstill, Trump said he and Kim “fell in love.”
According to the recently published book by journalist Bob Woodward, “Rage,” Kim, in a letter to Trump, called the President of the United States “His Excellency” and said he believed that the “deep and special friendship between us will function as a force magic “.
Some observers said Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis would quell speculation that the two leaders may have planned an “October surprise” by hosting their fourth meeting before the US presidential election in November.
Despite stalled talks, Kim has not lifted his self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in an apparent effort to keep the possibilities of diplomacy alive. North Korea’s economy is believed to have worsened due to sanctions and the pandemic that forced it to close its border with China, its largest trading partner, in January.
North Korea has said there has not been a single virus outbreak on its soil, a claim widely disputed by foreign experts.
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