WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had responded to his overtures after Trump ordered the United States to scale back military exercises with South Korea.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why Kim had not responded to Trump’s overtures.
“He has,” he answered, without providing any further details.
Their relationship was a dominant theme during Trump’s first term, including a series of letters between them, but has received less emphasis in his second term.
The pair held summits in 2018 and 2019 before negotiations broke down over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons arsenal. North Korea is under heavy international sanctions over those weapons, as well as its ballistic missiles.
“Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect and we met on numerous occasions, actually, two primary occasions, spoken and spent time. I understand him. He understands me,” Trump said.
Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul’s refusal to take part in actions against Iran.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Costas Pitas, writing by Steve Holland, editing by David Ljunggren and Michelle Nichols )
