According to North Korean state media, dictator Kim Jong-un sent a message of sympathy to former president Donald Trump and his family on Saturday night after the failed assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
North Korea’s KCNA media said Kim’s letter offered sympathy and “warm greetings” to President Trump and his wife.
“He sincerely hoped that they would be recovered as soon as possible. He hoped they will surely overcome it,” KCNA said of Kim’s letter.
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Trump presided over a combination of pressure and diplomatic outreach to North Korea during his first term, culminating in Trump becoming the first American president to set foot on North Korean soil during a meeting with Kim in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in June 2019.
“Stepping across that line was a great honor. We met and we liked each other from day one,” Trump said of crossing the border in Kim’s company.
Trump’s relationship with Kim got off to a rocky start when Trump famously referred to the North Korean dictator as “little rocket man” during a spate of illegal North Korean ballistic missile tests in 2017. Trump eventually gave Kim a copy of the Elton John album that includes the song “Rocket Man” as a gift to soothe any lingering hurt feelings.
President Donald J. Trump and Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea Kim Jong Un speak to reporters on June 30, 2019, as the two leaders meet in Freedom House at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Neither diplomacy nor pressure seemed to make any lasting change in North Korea’s behavior, as the communist tyranny turned significantly more hostile over the past few years, especially after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was elected in March 2022.
Yoon was considerably tougher on North Korea than his dovish predecessor Moon Jae-in and Pyongyang responded with a string of provocations including more missile tests, flying drones into South Korean airspace, and – most bizarrely – sending balloons full of trash and manure over the border.
If the North Korea regime is hoping for relations with South Korea and the U.S. to improve after Trump’s prospective return to office, their current behavior shows no sign of it.
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Jack Knudsen / Breitbart NewsKim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong, a powerful and stridently anti-Western member of the regime, erupted in fury on Sunday after propaganda materials she referred to as “dirty leaflets” were found on North Korea’s side of the border.
Pyongyang has long demanded South Korea block freedom activists from sending materials critical of the regime, and banned media such as South Korean music, over the border. The South believes such actions are protected as free speech.
“Despite repeated warnings of the DPRK [North Korea], the ROK [South Korea] scum are not stopping this crude and dirty play,” Kim fumed.
“The ROK clams will be tired from suffering a bitter embarrassment and must be ready for paying a very high price,” she warned.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) responded on Monday by warning that North Korea will be held responsible if it resumes sending trash balloons over the border.
