Trump sends North Korea's Kim birthday greetings

[snoop1130]

Trump sends North Korea's Kim birthday greetings

By Sangmi Cha

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump sent a happy birthday message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-Yong said on Friday.

 

Chung, who met Trump in Washington this week, told reporters that he was given a message to pass to North Korea and it was delivered on Thursday.

 

Chung said on arriving back in South Korea that Trump had remembered the day they met was Kim Jong Un’s birthday and had sent him birthday greetings.

 

“President Trump asked President Moon to deliver his message to Chairman Kim,” said Chung, without elaborating whether it was a written message or whether it included anything beyond the greeting.

 

Kim’s birthday is believed to be Jan. 8, though his secretive regime has never confirmed the date. The U.S. government lists Kim’s birth year as 1984, making him 36 years old this year.

 

On Wednesday, Chung also met the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, and “reaffirmed close U.S.-ROK coordination on North Korea,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said, using the initials for South Korea’s official name the Republic of Korea.

 

The two also discussed recent events in the Middle East and their coordination on global security issues.

 

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in California next week, along with their Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, and North Korea and South Korea-Japan relations will be on the top of the agenda.

 

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday there is an urgent need for practical ways to improve ties with North Korea, adding that he was ready to meet its reclusive leader in North Korea.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-10

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[Bluespunk]

12 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

U.S. President Donald Trump sent a happy birthday message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-Yong said on Friday.

Did he send anything to help the impoverished, starving, oppressed citizens in the gulag that is North Korea?

[klauskunkel]

Workaround: When the Line App fails, send another country's National Security Advisor to deliver your message.

[Tug]

Aww is the bromance back on?a beautiful letter perhaps some chocolates and flowers tell little Kim how mean you were to Iran but not to him?what a pathetic farce of foreign policy this administration has

[IAMHERE]

Surely this is against the sanctions. Happy Birthday my butt; should be 'satisfactory birthday' only.

[zydeco]

The president of the US goes begging for approval from the dictator of North Korea. Never thought I would see this in my lifetime.

[30la]

What I can say, politic is slime and ass creep ... until a few weeks ago you were ready to wage war with this man, and now ...
Many say diplomacy, I just say <deleted>!

[steven100]

If you think Kim Jong Un is not a smart guy then think again .....   he's playing Trump like a puppet on a string. 

[Tchooptip]

He sends him a birthday card while keeping the country crushed under economic sanctions, Kim will use it like toilet paper????

[sammieuk1]

Was it an extra large Big Mac as Don's xmas gift never arrived????

[Sir Swagman]

^{Perhaps this thuggish dictator (and I am not referring to trump here)  will now lend support to his whining claim that he deserved a Nobel prize.....This recalcitrant man child needs spanking.}

[Boon Mee]

It's called the Art of the Deal. 

 

MAGA 

[atyclb]

his birthday greeting for solemani was a bit different.

[steven100]

1 hour ago, Sir Swagman said:

^{Perhaps this thuggish dictator (and I am not referring to trump here)  will now lend support to his whining claim that he deserved a Nobel prize.....This recalcitrant man child needs spanking.}

are you wearing your glasses

[Tug]

1 hour ago, Boon Mee said:

It's called the Art of the Deal. 

 

MAGA 

You are funney!

[Jonnapat]

Pathetic.

[Thingamabob]

Donald Trump tries to keep his promises, unlike most of his predecessors.

[Fore Man]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

If you think Kim Jong Un is not a smart guy then think again .....   he's playing Trump like a puppet on a string. 

Trump knows full well he is being played but is savvy enough to keep some form of contact open with an unpredictable, possibly demented adversary.  And I haven’t seen POTUS giving away any concessions to Mr. Kim. The enemy you know is better than the one you do not. 

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Trump sends North Korea's Kim birthday greetings

 

[donnacha]

Come on guys, can you not see that Trump is playing the carrot and stick game?

Of course he knows that the North Korean elites were glued to every news report during the stand off with Tehran. The situation could not have gone better for the US, and this birthday message from Trump is a power move, reminding them that he hasn't forgotten NK.

Just watch. After the US election in November this year, both Iran and NK, realizing they have to deal with Trump for another 4 years, will move to normalize relations. Deterrence (the stick) works, but so does the carrot, and Trump just happens, in his ridiculous, over-the-top, gaudy way, to be very good at that.

 

 

[zydeco]

10 minutes ago, donnacha said:

both Iran and NK, realizing they have to deal with Trump for another 4 years, will move to normalize relations.

Why would anyone want to "normalize" relations with totalitarian dictatorships that execute their own people on a whim and have sworn to obliterate you? Anyone, that is, but a narcissistic dictator wannabe like Trump.

[Fore Man]

36 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Why would anyone want to "normalize" relations with totalitarian dictatorships that execute their own people on a whim and have sworn to obliterate you? Anyone, that is, but a narcissistic dictator wannabe like Trump.

We will never hold off the wolves completely, but if there are ways to keep them at bay and not visit violence on us, peace will have been maintained.  By at the very least maintaining backchannel diplomatic relationships with these rogue states, we may be able to stave off a shooting war in which nobody truly wins. Trump may be seen as a gaudy showman and not particularly articulate, even by his supporters, but he knows very well how to project strength and fearlessness.  He’s laid down a line in the sand and dared anybody stupid enough to mess with the American people. I’ll grudgingly give him credit for guts and not backing down from campaign promises. 

[Srikcir]

On 1/10/2020 at 6:46 PM, snoop1130 said:

Chung, who met Trump in Washington this week, told reporters that he was given a message to pass to North Korea and it was delivered on Thursday.

 

On 1/10/2020 at 6:46 PM, snoop1130 said:

“President Trump asked President Moon to deliver his message to Chairman Kim,” said Chung

And another US counter-productive diplomatic faux pas.

According to Kim Kye Gwan, top adviser to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un:

http://lite.cnn.io/en/article/h_b6988d53bd8256f41c0b3d9f5f436fe3

• chastised South Korea, accusing Seoul of tempting to re-insert itself in the role of mediator between Pyongyang and Washington by announcing that Trump had asked the longtime US ally to help deliver his birthday message.
• North Korea had already received the greeting. He said there is a "special liaison channel" for the two leaders to communicate and hinted South Korea was unaware it existed.
• "To forge personal relations between heads of state is a diplomatically natural thing between states,"... "However, it is somehow presumptuous for south Korea to meddle in the personal relations between Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un and President Trump."

[earlinclaifornia]

6 hours ago, Fore Man said:

Trump knows full well he is being played but is savvy enough to keep some form of contact open with an unpredictable, possibly demented adversary.  And I haven’t seen POTUS giving away any concessions to Mr. Kim. The enemy you know is better than the one you do not. 

Cancelling joint sessions with the South was a huge concession!

[donnacha]

5 hours ago, zydeco said:

Why would anyone want to "normalize" relations with totalitarian dictatorships that execute their own people on a whim and have sworn to obliterate you? Anyone, that is, but a narcissistic dictator wannabe like Trump.

Seriously?

You don't see the upside for the people of Iran and North Korea if their dictatorships are allowed to progress towards becoming less murderous and more engaged with the world?

You don't think someone should be offering the leaders some sort of pathway towards becoming the regular, corrupt, billionaire elites that control every other country in the world?

Your hate for Trump, and your susceptibility to propaganda, mean that you are unable to perceive situations for what they actually are. The world is messy and corrupt. Long after all the current hysteria about Trump has died down, he will go down in history as a successful president because he was good at spotting opportunities for easy wins, which is what he has spent his life doing.

He will strike deals with reprehensible dictators so that their people can finally join the rest of the world. In a decades or two, when half of North Korea is working for Samsung, and going on vacations in Thailand, and Kim is off living as a reclusive billionaire in Switzerland, legally protected from prosecution, we will all wonder why someone did not do it sooner.

[Catoholic]

On 1/10/2020 at 6:58 PM, Bluespunk said:

Did he send anything to help the impoverished, starving, oppressed citizens in the gulag that is North Korea?

Yes, he's giving them some hope which is far more than Obama or Clinton ever gave them. What I find interesting is how quickly the democrats (and leftist) will stand up for the killing of unborn babies, but when it comes time, to take action in a difficult situation, the democrats only have excuses for their inability to act.  The democrats have repeated shown they are only capable of criticizing the actions of others. 

[Bluespunk]

4 minutes ago, Catoholic said:

Yes, he's giving them some hope which is far more than Obama or Clinton ever gave them. What I find interesting is how quickly the democrats (and leftist) will stand up for the killing of unborn babies, but when it comes time to take difficult actions against the living they always have some excuse for their inability to act.

He’s giving them hope?

 

Come on then, tell me what hope is trump’s bromance with Kim bringing the captive citizens of North Korea?

[Catoholic]

2 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Come on then, tell me what hope is trump’s bromance with Kim bringing the captive citizens of North Korea?

By taking the political risk to speak with Kim, he is giving me and others hope that there may be a better future for the people of N.Korea.

[OneMoreFarang]

I guess when Trump is finally no president anymore and he can't run away from all those court cases anymore then he can still go to see his friend the rocket man.

[bristolboy]

9 hours ago, Fore Man said:

Trump knows full well he is being played but is savvy enough to keep some form of contact open with an unpredictable, possibly demented adversary.  And I haven’t seen POTUS giving away any concessions to Mr. Kim. The enemy you know is better than the one you do not. 

Really? He put a stop to joint South Korean US exercises. He conceded that they were provocations.

Plus he gave Kim a lot of prestige which helped legitimize his rule in the eyes of the world.

As for Trump knowing he is being played. Yes, Now he does. But back when he signed that memorandum at the conclusion of the Singapore summit, it's clear he didn't have a clue. There's a reason why heads of state don't personally involve themselves in these kinds of negotiations. Trump is simply clueless about that.

What's more, there's proof that Trump's supporters didn't have a clue either. Remember all that talk about the Nobel Peace Prize? You would have to be truly clueless to believe that North Korea was on the path to genuine denuclearization because of Trump's involvement.