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US President Donald Trump’s Jan. 4 tweet in which he took credit for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue. (taken from Donald Trump’s Twitter page.)

US President Donald Trump asked to be given “credit” for high-level inter-Korean talks in a Jan. 4 telephone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a US news outlet recently reported.

“During a Jan. 4 phone call in which the South Korean leader briefed the American president on the plans for talks with North Korea, Trump asked Moon to publicly give him the credit for creating the environment for the talks,” the Washington Post wrote in a Jan. 20 article with a Seoul dateline. The newspaper attributed confirmation to “people familiar with the conversation” on high-level inter-Korean talks, but did not disclose who the sources were.

In a tweet later on Jan. 4, Trump wrote, “Does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn't firm, strong and willing to commit our total 'might' against the North.” At a New Year’s press conference six days later on Jan. 10, Moon expressed his thanks to Trump to a Washington Post reporter asking how much the US President had contributed to achieving inter-Korean dialogue.

“I think President Trump deserves huge credit,” Moon said at the time.

The Washington Post article also noted that Trump referred to Moon by his given name “Jae-in” in the conversation, while Moon referred to Trump as “Mr. President.” The article called Trump’s use of Moon’s given name “an unimaginable informality in Korean business etiquette,” although this is a common American practice for establishing a close relationship.

By Jeon Jung-yoon, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]