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President Trump on Thursday issued a personal letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praising "historic progress" since their summit in Singapore last month, despite a series of recent setbacks that have set doubt the negotiations on denuclearization. a tweet Trump released copies of the four-paragraph note – both in Korean and translated into English – in which Kim stated that the summit was the "beginning of a meaningful journey" and a "new future" "I will deeply appreciate the energetic and extraordinary efforts made by Your Excellency the President for the improvement of relations," said Kim, according to the letter of 6 July. It was the day that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived for two days of meetings with senior North Korean officials, who ended on a bitter note after Pyongyang lambasted the US party for ". a unilateral request for gangster ".
In his memo, Kim provided no guarantee that he was committed to giving up the nuclear weapons or the arsenal of his country's ballistic missiles, referring more generally "faithful implementation of the joint declaration" agreed in Singapore. The statement said that North Korea "would work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula", but did not specify when and how Pyongyang would dismantle its program. "A very nice note from President Kim of North Korea," writes Trump. his tweet. "Great progress has been made!"
Trump posted the post several hours after arriving in London for his first visit to Britain after finishing a controversial appearance at the NATO summit. The president shook US allies by demanding that other NATO countries pay more for their own defense, although he has not threatened to pull the US out of the country. transatlantic alliance.
[Trump says NATO nations make major new defense spending commitments after he upends summit]
The president sought to maintain the momentum of his summit with Kim, although Pyongyang has shown no sign of taking any steps to dismantle his nuclear program. US intelligence analysts said after the summit that Pyongyang was working to conceal key elements of his program, including the number of weapons he keeps and the secret production facilities
" On the plus side, this shows that they have established said Victor Cha, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has negotiated with North Korea as head of Asian policy in the administration. from George W. Bush.
"Freeing a letter like this does not give experts the certainty that there was something more in Pompeo's journey," adds Cha.
Kim has closed his letter to Trump suggesting that progress could "But the North Korean dictator did not meet Pompeo during his visit this month, considered by foreign affairs analysts as intentional intent given that the two s & # 39 were met in Pom. A North Korean delegation failed to report to a meeting with US officials in the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea on Thursday to discuss the repatriation of remnants of US military troops during the war from Korea. War
The issue has been mistrustful for decades and no transfer of remnants has occurred since 2005. The two sides agreed in Singapore to work towards the "immediate repatriation of those already identified." Trump told supporters during a campaign State Department spokesman Heather Nauert told reporters traveling with Pompeo in Europe that the North Korean party had declared that they were ready to meet on Sunday. "We will be ready," she said.
Despite such setbacks, Trump continued to argue that progress had been made. He tweeted after the summit that "there is no longer any nuclear threat from North Korea", and he praised the "great success" at the campaign rallies
. Trump and Pompeo remained optimistic, Pompeo pointing out that his negotiating counterpart, Kim Yong Chol, a senior aide to Kim Jong Un, remained committed to denuclearization.
"They will accomplish it," said Pompeo. Trumb described his summit with Kim as an "extraordinary meeting," and he reiterated that North Korea has not conducted any nuclear tests or ballistic missiles since it was hired in February. North Korea has stopped the spread of loudspeaker propaganda on the border with South Korea as a sign of progress, and South Korea has also halted its own broadcasts in the North.
"I think really that we have established a very good relationship, "said Trump." We'll see where it all ends. "
Yet behind the scenes, the Trump administration has shown that it recognizes that gambling President's diplomatic road has reached a roadblock and further pressure on Pyongyang will be needed Thursday, the United States said North Korea has already exceeded the annual ceiling for oil imports , and asked the United Nations to order an immediate halt to all oil transfers to the country. The demand underscored the US's determination to keep North Korea under pressure from existing economic sanctions, even though Trump said before the summit that he would no longer use the phrase "pressure" maximum "to describe the strategy of his administration. The United States reported that North Korean oil tankers filled the oil tank using ship-to-ship shipments at least 89 times in the first five months of 2018.
According to a copy of According to the Washington Post US officials have calculated that even if tankers carry only one-third of their full load, North Korea would have already exceeded the annual quota of 500,000 barrels authorized by UN sanctions.
In the report, the United States requests the Sanctions Committee to inform each United Nations country that North Korea has violated the annual quota. He also calls on the committee to call for "increased vigilance" against attempts to circumvent sanctions by ship-to-ship oil transfers.
But analysts have warned that the Trump administration's sanctions strategy has already begun to weaken. summit, while China and other countries are beginning to ease punitive measures. And Trump, having already declared success, put his helpers in a more difficult position.
"How do you negotiate things that your boss has already taken credit?" Cha said.
Adam Taylor in Seoul and John Hudson traveling with Pompeo contributed to this report.
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