U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he exchanged “very friendly” letters with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Kim sent a letter to Trump earlier this month amid a deadlock in negotiations to dismantle the North’s nuclear weapons program. Trump responded with a letter “of excellent content,” the North’s state media said Sunday, raising hopes of a possible resumption of two-way talks. “He actually sent me birthday wishes, but it was just a very friendly letter both ways,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office in the White House.

Trump, who turned 73 on June 14, revealed earlier that he had received a “beautiful” and “very warm” letter from Kim on June 10. It was the first known correspondence between the leaders since their second summit in Vietnam in February ended without a deal. The contents of the messages have not been disclosed, but the timing has prompted speculation that the two sides could be headed for a revival of talks on denuclearizing North Korea in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump is set to travel to Japan and South Korea this weekend, first to attend a Group of 20 summit — where he will sit down for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the heels of the latter’s state visit to Pyongyang last week — and then to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul.

(Yonhap)