Trump says he 'fell in love' with Kim Jong-un
By Park Si-soo
U.S. President Donald Trump says he “fell in love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, yet another positive signal to revive the stalled denuclearization talks between the two nations.
Trump made the comment at a televised rally in Wheeling, West Virginia, Saturday (local time.)
“I was really being tough and so was he,” Trump said of his talks with Kim over his nuclear weapons program. “And we would go back and forth. And then we fell in love. No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters. They were great letters. And then we fell in love.”
The U.S. leader was probably speaking about a series of letters he has exchanged with Kim since their first summit in Singapore in June. At that meeting, Kim agreed to a vaguely worded joint statement to “work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” while Trump committed to “provide security guarantees” and take moves toward normalizing relations.
During his speech at the United Nations last week, Trump raised hopes that a second meeting with Kim could occur “quite soon.”
In the speech, Trump called Kim “very open” and “terrific,” a dramatic turnaround from his mocking depiction of Kim as “Little Rocket Man” and threatening to “totally destroy” his country only a year ago.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said he had a “very positive meeting” with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho in New York, and agreed to visit North Korea early in October to prepare for another Trump-Kim summit.