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White House director of social media Dan Scavino Jr. posted a tweet on June 1 showing Kim Yong-chol

What was in the letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivered to US President Donald Trump on June 1 by Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) vice chairman and United Front Department director Kim Yong-chol?

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Kim Yong-chol, Trump expressed satisfaction with the “very nice” letter.

“It was a very interesting letter,” he added.

“Would you like to see what was in that letter?” he asked reporters.

“Maybe you’ll be able to see it, and maybe fairly soon,” he added.

When asked by reporters if he could share the content, Trump joking asked, “How much [will you give]? How much? How much?”

But a few minutes later, Trump said, “I haven’t seen the letter yet.”

“I purposely didn’t open the letter [. . .] in front of the director [Kim Yong-chol],” he explained, suggesting he was not actually aware of the content.

“I said, ‘Would you want me to open it?’ He said, ‘You can read it later,’” he recalled, adding, “I may be in for a big surprise, folks.”

The actual content of the letter remains unknown, but analysts speculated it may contain general information about Kim Jong-un’s basic position on denuclearization and commitment to an upcoming North Korea-US summit. The Wall Street Journal quoted an overseas government official who reportedly heard about the letter’s content as saying it “expresses the North Korean leader's interest in meeting Mr. Trump without making any significant concessions or threats.”

CNN reported that while Trump “told reporters he had not yet read the letter [. . .] a White House official has since confirmed that the President has read the contents of that giant envelope.”

“The letter was ‘carefully examined’ by the Secret Service for anything potentially dangerous before the North Korean official was able to deliver it,” the CNN report quoted an official as saying.

The White House has released two photos in connection with the letter. One of them shows Kim Yong-chol and Trump facing each other and the white envelope is exchanged, while the other shows a smiling Trump holding the envelope in front of him while standing side by side with Kim. The US press expressed particular interest in the size of the envelope, describing it as “giant” and “extra-large.”

By Hwang Joon-bum, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]