Our top story this morning...
Kim Jong-un has penned a rare letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreeing to more summits in the New Year... and signaling he will eventually come down to Seoul.
The North Korean leader reached out to the South on Sunday night,... expressing his determination to make big strides toward denuclearization in 2019.
Shin Se-min reports.
An unexpected letter from the North.
South Korea's Presidential Office says it received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday afternoon -- ahead of the New Year,... in which he promised to work toward peace and prosperity in 2019.
"In his letter, Chairman Kim sent warm end-of-the-year greetings and said the leaders of the two Koreas should move forward together in the new year for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula."
The regime's young leader also said he hopes to meet with President Moon more "often" in 2019 as they work towards denuclearization in the region.
About a highly anticipated visit by Kim to Seoul before the end of 2018,... Kim wrote that he had "much regret" it did not happen as planned this year,... but added he's willing to visit Seoul soon -- while keeping an eye on things that might affect such a visit.
Uploading the two-page letter on his Facebook and Twitter accounts,... President Moon said South Korea is "unchanged in welcoming" Kim's reciprocal visit to the South Korean capital.
He added that he's happy Kim has shown an interest in "meeting as often in the new year to work for peaceful development and denuclearization."
The South Korean leader,... after receiving his first letter from Kim Jong-un in ten months -- is set to send his own formal letter back soon.
Kim's letter has renewed hopes for inter-Korean relations in 2019 -- ending weeks of lackluster communication between the two Koreas as the North's denuclearization talks with the U.S. have gone off the boil.
However,... Kim's letter to President Moon is expected to put inter-Korean diplomacy back on track,... with their next summit looking that much more likely to happen in Seoul.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.
