Donald Trump has said that he and Kim Jong-un ‘fell in love’ after writing ‘beautiful letters’ to each other.

He told a campaign rally that although there used to be tough talk between the US President and the North Korean leader – calling each other ‘rocketman’ and ‘dotard’ – their feelings have changed.

The President told the rally in West Virginia on Saturday night: ‘He wrote me beautiful letters and they’re great letters. We fell in love.’

Trump has said he ‘fell in love’ with Kim Jong-un over a number of letters he has been sent (Picture: AFP/Getty)

He joked about criticism he would get from the news media for making a comment some would consider ‘unpresidential’ and for being so positive about the North Korean leader.




‘Why has President Trump given up so much?’ Mr Trump said in a mock news anchor voice, before adding: ‘I didn’t give up anything.’

He noted that Jong-un is interested in a second meeting after their initial summit in Singapore in June, after which Trump claimed it made huge strides towards the denuclearisation of North Korea.

But denuclearisation negotiations have since stalled.

Satellite images released in July revealed that North Korea were putting the finishing touches on a ballistic missile factory at the same time as the US-North Korea summit.

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But Kim does not seem to bear the same love for his US counterpart (Picture: AP)

And more than three months after the summit, North Korea’s top diplomat Ri Yong Ho told world leaders at the UN General Assembly that the country does not see a ‘corresponding response’ from the US to North Korea’s early disarmament moves.

Instead, he noted, the US is continuing sanctions aimed at keeping up pressure.

Trump took a much more optimistic view in his rally speech.

‘We’re doing great with North Korea,’ he said.

‘We were going to war with North Korea. Millions of people would have been killed. Now we have this great relationship.’

A document published by the US State Department in 2017 noted that the people of North Korea are subjected to ‘egregious human rights violations by the government’ (Picture: AFP/Getty)

He said his efforts to improve relations with Kim have brought positive results – ending rocket tests, helping free hostages and getting the remains of American servicemen returned home.

But he said nothing of the human rights crisis that currently grips North Korea, nor acknowledged the UN’s comments that ‘systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations’ are currently taking place.

Kim Jong-un is now the third generation of the ruling family, and citizens are required to pay complete devotion to the ruling family.

According to a report done in 2017 by the United States State Department, the people of North Korea are subjected to ‘egregious human rights violations by the government.’

The document states these include forced abortions, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and concentration camps.

It even acknowledges that some defectors reported being forced to watch the infanticide of their own children.

Trump is due to meet Kim at another summit in the coming months, but it is not yet known if he will confront the regime leader over his human rights record (Picture: AFP/Getty)

It is estimated up to 120,000 people are currently being held in camps across the country, in which ‘ severe human rights abuses’ are happening.

Jihyun Park, a North Korean defector who escaped the country twice, spoke to Metro.co.uk about her own experience in one of these camps, where her leg became so infected with gangrene that she could see her own bone.



Amnesty describe the prison camps as ‘harsh beyond endurance’ and report that sexual violence is systematically used against female prisoners, and public executions are regularly held.

Despite the damning evidence held against them, North Korea regularly refuses to acknowledge the reports, and instead says its citizens ‘feel proud of the world’s most advantageous human rights system’.

Trump is due to meet Kim at another summit in the coming months, but it is not yet known if he will confront the regime leader over his human rights record.

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