North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un wished President Trump and first lady Melania Trump well following their coronavirus diagnoses.
Kim, who has established an unprecedented relationship with the president during his first term, said he heard the news of Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis and wanted to send a “message of sympathy,” according to North Korean state media.
“He offered his sympathy to the president and the first lady. He sincerely hoped that they would be recovered as soon as possible,” North Korean state media reported. “He hoped they will surely overcome it. He sent warm greetings to them.”
Watergate journalist Bob Woodward chronicled the relationship between the two leaders in his book Rage, detailing the contents of 27 letters exchanged between 2018 and 2019.
Before the start of 2019, Kim wrote, “As we enter the new year the whole world will certainly once again come to see, not so far in the future, another historic meeting between myself and Your Excellency reminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film.”
According to Woodward, Trump proposed the two go watch a movie together or play a game of golf during the 2019 summit.
“Do you ever do anything other than send rockets up to the air?” Trump reportedly joked to Kim. “Let’s go to a movie together. Let’s go play a round of golf.”
Trump’s diplomatic talks with the North Korean leader were part of U.S. efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. However, the country has not abandoned its nuclear program and insisted it remain there as a deterrent to the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The 2019 summit between the two was cut short after the U.S. and North Korea failed to reach a substantive agreement toward denuclearization.
