KCNA VIA KNS/AFP / STR
None of the officers were wearing masks, in contrast to recent drills
Donald Trump has sent a letter to Kim Jong Un detailing a
plan to develop ties, state media reported citing the North Korean
leader's powerful sister, but she warned their good personal
relationship is not enough, as a hiatus in disarmament talks drags on.
The
statement by Kim Yo Jong came a day after the nuclear-armed North fired
what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east
coast on Saturday, the latest such action it has taken this year.
"In the letter, he (Trump)... explained his plan to propel
the relations between the two countries of the DPRK and the US and
expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work,"
an apparent reference to the coronavirus pandemic, Kim Yo Jong said in
the statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
on Sunday.
AFP/File / Brendan Smialowski
Kim and Trump shook hands during a meeting on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea
A senior administration official confirmed Trump sent a
letter to Kim Jong Un, "consistent with his efforts to engage global
leaders during the ongoing pandemic".
"The President looks forward to continued communications with Chairman Kim", the official said.
While the letter reflects "excellent" ties between the two
leaders, Kim Yo Jong warned that broader relations between their two
nations are different.
"We try to hope for the day when the
relations between the two countries would be as good as the ones between
the two top leaders, but it has to be left to time and be watched
whether it can actually happen," the sister said.
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP / STR
North Korean state media said Kim oversaw an
"artillery fire competition" among combined units of the army -- the day
before he observed demonstration fire of a "tactical guided weapon"
Analysts say the North has been continuing to refine its
weapons capabilities more than a year after a summit between Kim Jong Un
and Trump broke down in Hanoi. The deadlock is over sanctions relief
and what North Korea would be willing to give up in return.
Pyongyang
-- which is under multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its
weapons programmes -- has repeatedly said amicable ties between the
leaders were not enough.
Kim Yo Jong praised Trump's efforts to maintain good
relations with her brother but added: "Nobody knows how much the
personal relations would change and lead the prospective relations
between the two countries, and it is not something good to make hasty
conclusion or be optimistic about it."
If the US continued to
pursue its "unilateral and greedy intention", she said, relations
between the two countries would continue to deteriorate.
Trump,
whose closeness to the North Korean leader and other global strongmen
has raised concerns at home, is seeking re-election in November's US
election.
Pyongyang set Washington a unilateral end-2019 deadline
to offer fresh concessions, and in late December Kim declared the North
no longer considered itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and
intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
- 'Tactical guided weapon' -
Rachel
Minyoung Lee, senior analyst with specialist site NK News, said the
statement from Kim Yo Jong -- which followed a new weapons test by
Pyongyang -- was well-timed to clearly show the North's intentions.
"Bottom
line: Kim-Trump personal ties are great but are not enough, and we will
press ahead with our weapons development agenda," she said.
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File / STR
The North has been continuing to refine its
weapons capabilities, analysts say, more than a year after a summit
between Kim and Trump broke down in Hanoi
On Saturday Kim Jong Un observed "the demonstration fire
of (a) tactical guided weapon", to showcase the characteristics "and
power of a new weapon system to be delivered" to army units, KCNA
reported on Sunday.
In addition, he spoke of "tactical and strategic weapon systems in the development stage", the report said.
Late last year, the leader had threatened a demonstration of a "new strategic weapon" soon.
Photos
carried by the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim, in a black
leather trench coat with a broad smile, surrounded by cheering officers
in an observation post.
None of the officers were wearing face
masks, in contrast to recent drills, when all but Kim donned face
coverings against the coronavirus outbreak. North Korea insists it has
not yet seen a confirmed case on its soil.
Shortly before the
latest launch, KCNA reported that the rubber-stamp parliament, the
Supreme People's Assembly, would convene on April 10.
The event
would involve gathering nearly 700 officials in one place, analysts
said. Such events have been banned in many parts of the world to curb
the spread of new coronavirus.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at
Ewha University in Seoul, told AFP earlier that Pyongyang is likely
struggling with the pandemic, even though the regime has not reported
any cases.
The UN Security Council has said it would make
humanitarian exemptions to sanctions on North Korea to help it fight the
coronavirus.
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