Why is Kim’s letter to Trump so big?
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known for pushing the envelope with threats and bluster as he seeks to leverage his nuclear weapons program into security and economic benefits for his country. But lately he’s gained notoriety for his envelopes alone.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday declared his on-andoff summit with Kim was on again. The announcement came after Trump hosted a se- nior North Korean envoy at the White House and he delivered a personal letter from Kim that was inside a white envelope nearly as large as a folded newspaper.
Trump has not yet revealed what was in the letter, but he sure seemed happy to get it. A photo showed a grinning Trump holding up the envelope alongside Kim Yong Chol, the most senior North Korean to visit the White House in 18 years, in the Oval Office in front of a Thomas Jefferson portrait.
The photo made rounds on so- cial media, where theories abound about why Kim would have sent Trump what seemed like a comically oversized letter.
Did Kim, a third-generation heredity leader, think Trump would share his love for lavish gestures and things grandiose? After spending months trading insults and war threats, has Kim learned that the way to influence Trump is to appeal to his ego?
No one outside North Korea likely knows the real reason for the letter’s size. It could just be that’s how Kim likes it.