US President Donald Trump has boasted of improved relations with North Korea, saying he and Kim Jong-un "fell in love" following their June summit in Singapore.
Trump's latest remarks praising the North Korean leader, which he had called a “little rocket man” last year, came at a rally Saturday for Republican Senate candidate and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia.
The president began by what he described as the massive threat that North Korea posed before he took office in January 2017. But he went on to add that his ability to establish good relations with Kim had been key to easing tensions.
"I was really being tough and so was he," Trump said. "And we would go back and forth. And then we fell in love. No really. He wrote me beautiful letters."
The US president then added, "They were great letters. And then we fell in love."
Trump also praised Kim while addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, pointing out that he was proud of his courage.
"I would like to thank Chairman Kim for his courage and for the steps he has taken, though much work remains to be done," Trump emphasized.
This is while he harshly criticized many of the world leaders and countries as well as international organizations such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and OPEC.
The development came after North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho declared at the UN General Assembly on Saturday that continued sanctions against Pyongyang were just further deepening the rift of mistrust with the US.
He further insisted that there was “no way” that his country would abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons unilaterally as long as Washington pushed for tough sanctions against Pyongyang.
“Without any trust in the US there will be no confidence in our national security and under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first,” Ri emphasized during his UN address.
Meanwhile, a second Trump-Kim summit is reportedly in the works as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accepted an invitation to visit Pyongyang to begin planning for the event.