President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un both arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam to meet for the second time since their historic summit in Singapore last year.
Last year’s summit, being the first-ever meeting between leaders of the United States and North Korea, represented a historic breakthrough in long-frozen relations between the two countries. After one-on-one talks, expanded discussions with their aides and a “working lunch,” the two world leaders signed a statement promising security guarantees for North Korea, better relationship between the two nations, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and recovery of soldiers’ remains. However, their first summit ended with vague commitments and no firm deals regarding the North Korea’s nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations.
After three months of hampered talks with U.S., tensions began to de-escalate after South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with North Korean leaders in Pyongyang in September to discuss denuclearization and a second summit with President Trump. High-level exchanges between the two sides then took place, including a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang and a visit by Kim Yong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, to the White House, where he brought a letter from North Korean leader to Trump regarding the second summit.
On February 5th, during his State of the Union address, President Trump announced that a second summit between him and Kim will be held at the end of February in Vietnam. President Trump expressed hope for the future relationship as he touted some recent victories that came out of their first meeting.
“As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months.”
After aides met in North Korea to discuss a second summit, Trump tweeted to confirm that it would be happening on Feb. 27 and 28 in Hanoi. He tweeted later that day that he is hopeful for North Korea’s success in the future.
“North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, will become a great Economic Powerhouse. He may surprise some but he won’t surprise me, because I have gotten to know him & fully understand how capable he is. North Korea will become a different kind of Rocket – an Economic one!” he wrote.
What to Expect in Hanoi
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday morning following a sixty-hour journey via armored train. Kim then transferred to a Mercedes limousine at the Vietnamese border city of Dong Dang and proceeded onwards to Hanoi, where his limousine was photographed with numerous North Korean bodyguards running alongside.
North Korean security officials have taken numerous precautions to prepare for Kim’s visit to Vietnam, reportedly bringing food, cooking supplies, and even utensils all from the hermit kingdom. In addition, American press were given one hour notice to abruptly move location from the Melia Hotel after the North Korean leader checked in. Unsurprisingly, Kim Jong Un did not feel comfortable being in the same hotel as numerous American media outlets.
Although neither the United States or North Korea have released official schedules for the summit, it is expected that Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump could meet as much as five times over the next several days. Their first meeting will be a ‘social dinner’ to take place on Wednesday night and will be the first time since the two world leaders have met since their last summit in Singapore. Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are expected to accompany Trump to the dinner, whereas Kim Yong Chol (chief negotiator of North Korea to the US) and possibly Kim Yo Jong (Kim Jong Un’s sister, attended Singapore summit) will accompany North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The question remains whether or not the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi will produce any tangible steps towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The many precautions being taken by the North Korean regime signal that Kim Jong Un is not trusting of the Americans and negotiation process, meaning that he is unlikely to relinquish the country’s nuclear weapons program which has been under development for decades.
The meeting between a US president and leader of North Korea was an achievement in itself during the Singapore summit, however, Trump will be under greater scrutiny to achieve concrete results in Hanoi. Some have said that Trump and Kim may declare an official end to the Korean War and take steps to allow IAEA inspectors into the country, whereas others have criticized negotiations with the North as fruitless and a mere photo-op.
