Washington:
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he looks forward to meeting Kim Jong-un “soon”, as he thanked the North Korean leader for handing over possible remains of US Korean War dead.
Fifty-five cases of what are believed to be the remains of Americans who were killed or captured during the Korean War were transported to a military base in Hawaii on Wednesday, after they were handed over to US officials who had travelled to North Korea last week.
“Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also, thank you for your nice letter - l look forward to seeing you soon!” Trump tweeted.
The repatriation of US remains was agreed by the two leaders during their historic June summit in Singapore.
An estimated 5,300 US service members listed as unaccounted for from the 1950-53 conflict in North Korea.
In his tweet, Trump also thanked the young North Korean leader for his “nice letter”, without elaborating.
During the summit, President Trump had hinted the possibility of an invitation to Kim to visit him at the White House.
Last month, North Korean state media reported that Kim had accepted Trump’s invitation to visit the US.
No date for a visit has been announced.
But critics question whether the two leaders’ bilateral meetings will yield its promised objective of “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.
US spy satellites have detected fresh activity at the North Korean facility that produced its first intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told senators that North Korea was continuing to produce fuel for nuclear bombs.
