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U.S. President Donald Trump sent a happy birthday message to Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un, the national security adviser of the Republic of Korea (ROK) said Friday.
Chung Eui-yong, who met Trump in Washington this week, told reporters that he was given a message to pass to the DPRK and it was delivered on Thursday.
"The day we met was Kim Jong Un's birthday and President Trump remembered this and asked me to deliver the message," Chung said upon arrival back in the ROK.
Kim's birthday is believed to be January 8, though the DPRK has never confirmed the date.
The U.S. government lists Kim's birth year as 1984, making him 36 years old this year.
Chung did not say if it was a written message or whether it included anything beyond birthday wishes.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets DPRK leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /Reuters Photo
Negotiations aimed at dismantling the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs have been at a standstill after a working-level meeting with the United States last October in Stockholm collapsed.
Kim has set a year-end deadline for Washington to change its stance in the negotiations, though U.S. officials have downplayed this as artificial.
On Wednesday, Chung also met the U.S. special envoy for the DPRK, Stephen Biegun, and reaffirmed close U.S.-ROK coordination on the DPRK, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.
ROK 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. The DPRK and ROK-Japan relations will be at the top of the agenda.
ROK President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday that there was an urgent need for practical ways to improve ties with the DPRK, adding that he was ready to meet Kim in the DPRK.
(With input from Reuters)
