U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim (left) gives North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho an envelope containing a letter from President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Singapore, on Aug 4. | Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP U.S. delivers Trump letter to Kim to North Koreans

A letter from President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was delivered by a U.S. delegation on Saturday, the State Department said.

The latest communication between the two leaders came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had a "polite exchange" with his North Korean counterpart on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Asia.


According to news reports, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters that U.S. ambassador Sung Kim gave a white envelope containing Trump's message to foreign minister Ri Yong Ho just after Ri and Pompeo shook hands.

Nauert, according to a Washington Post report, said Pompeo told Ri "we should talk again soon" and Ri responded, in English, "I agree. There are many productive conversations to be had."

Trump alluded to ongoing communications between he and Kim on Aug. 2: "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!"

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Pompeo, who is in Singapore for a foreign ministers meeting hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, later told reporters that the world expects North Korea to live up to its commitment to full denuclearization referred to in a joint statement issued following the June 12 Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.

"I had the chance to speak with my #DPRK counterpart FM Ri Yong Ho @asean today," Pompeo wrote on Twitter. "We had a quick, polite exchange."

Multiple media outlets reported on Saturday that a confidential United Nations report has found Pyongyang has not stopped its nuclear or missile programs. The U.N. report, which was submitted to the Security Council on Friday, reportedly further finds that North Korea has continued to defy Security Council resolutions through a "massive increase" of illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products and by trying to sell weapons abroad.

At the regional meeting, Ri reiterated that North Korea remains committed to the joint Singapore statement, which has been criticized for lacking specific language on just how denuclearization would be implemented.

"The DPRK stands firm in its determination and commitment for implementing the DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement in a responsible and good-faith manner," Ri said, according to a Reuters report, referring to his country by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.