US President Donald Trump has congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on his birthday, South Korea’s top presidential security adviser said on Friday, after returning from his trip to Washington, DC.
Chung Eui-yong, head of the national security office, had a brief meeting with Trump at the White House during the three-day visit.
Trump had some congratulatory words for Kim on the occasion of his January 8 birthday, and asked President Moon Jae-in to deliver the message, Yonhap reported. “As far as I know, the message was conveyed to North Korea yesterday in an appropriate manner,” Chung told reporters at Incheon International Airport.
The remarks suggest that the two Koreas have operated a communication channel, probably at the DMZ village of Panmunjom or a North Korean diplomatic mission in New York.