US-NKorea letter diplomacy is a throwback to a different era

WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Korean envoy is coming to Washington bearing a letter for President Donald Trump from Kim Jong Un.

This has been going on for days. Like in the old days.

Kim Yong Chol was spotted Wednesday at Beijing’s airport, where he boarded a commercial flight to the U.S. On Thursday, he met Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York. Now it’s on to Washington, still carrying that letter, which in some fashion is a response to a letter Trump dictated for Kim.

The fate of a historic U.S.-North Korea summit may rest on what’s in Kim’s letter.

And it’s all unfolding at the speed of pen pals.