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The 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit, commonly known as the Hanoi Summit, was a two-day summit meeting between North Korean supreme leader
Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...
and
U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, held at the French Colonial Hôtel Métropole in Hanoi, Vietnam, from February 27 to 28, 2019. It was the second meeting between the leaders of
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
following their first meeting in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
the year prior. On February 28, 2019, the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
announced that the summit was cut short and that no agreement was reached. Trump later clarified that it was due to North Korea's request to end all sanctions. North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong-ho asserted that the country only sought a partial lifting of the five
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
sanctions placed on North Korea between 2016 and 2017.


Background

The first North Korea–United States summit between
Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...
and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
took place in June 2018 in Singapore with the objectives of resolving the long-term
Korean conflict The Korean conflict is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea), both of which claim to be the sole Legit ...
involving
ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
nuclear weapons and denuclearization of the
Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...
. A series of bilateral summits was held between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Chinese President
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
, South Korean President
Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...
, and US President Donald Trump.


Announcement

The White House confirmed the planned summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump on September 11, 2018. U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...
stated that North Korea and the U.S. were "working diligently" to make sure the conditions were right for the summit. Trump stated the host country would be Vietnam, and the dates to be February 27 to 28, during his second State of the Union Address on February 5, 2019. He later announced that the summit would take place in
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
.


Vietnam's reactions and preparations

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
Phạm Bình Minh visited
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
at North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's invitation from February 12 to 14. The visit came ahead of the summit, which a spokeswoman from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.


Developments since the June 2018 Summit

Pompeo appointed Stephen Biegun as United States Special Representative for North Korea on August 23, 2018. In September 2018, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that "North Korea is making nuclear fuel and building weapons as actively as ever" but did so quietly, "allowing Mr. Trump to portray a denuclearization effort as on track." Two months later, ''The Times'' reported that North Korea appeared to be engaged in a "great deception" by offering to dismantle one missile base while developing sixteen others, and that this expansion program was long known to American intelligence but contradicted Trump's public assertions that his diplomacy was yielding results. Immediately following the June 2018 summit, Trump had declared "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea... sleep well tonight!" A third inter-Korean summit was held September 18 to 20, 2018, which sought a breakthrough in the hampered talks with the U.S. and a solution for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. In November 2018, North Korea repeated its demand that U.S. economic sanctions be lifted as a condition for proceeding with talks, while the Trump administration continued to insist that North Korea make concessions first. Meetings between Pompeo and North Korean officials were scheduled, canceled due to disagreements, and then rescheduled. The February 2019 summit was confirmed after Kim Yong-chol, North Korea's top negotiator, met with Trump in the Oval Office on January 18, 2019. In the days leading up to the summit, Trump declared that former president
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
had been on the verge of going to war with North Korea and had told Trump so during the transition, which suggested that Trump had pulled the U.S. back from the brink of war; former Obama aides denied these claims. Trump also suggested that he deserved the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
for his diplomacy with North Korea, with the U.S. informally asking Japan to nominate Trump, according to Japanese newspaper ''
Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...
'', which reported
Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...
doing so, but reports were neither confirmed nor denied, as it is tradition to keep nominations confidential. Noting that one of North Korea's primary objectives is to replace the
Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement (; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United States Army Lieutenant General William Kelly Harrison Jr ...
with a peace treaty to formally end the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, Scott Snyder, the senior fellow for Korea studies at the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
, observed, "What I worry about is the president may want the peace most — more than the denuclearization... e of the big worries that people have is that somehow the president is going to trade the alliance for the prospect of a Nobel Peace Prize." Top American intelligence officials testified to Congress in January 2019 that it was unlikely North Korea would fully dismantle its nuclear arsenal, and Trump's national security advisor
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...
continued to believe North Korea could not be trusted and that denuclearization efforts would fail. Trump asserted that North Korea's pause of weapons testing since the Singapore summit was a sign of progress, but Bruce Klingner of
The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...
said there had been longer testing pauses during previous administrations. In the summit, wide gaps persisted between the two countries, including disputes on what the exact definition of denuclearization entailed. In January, Biegun had repeated the official American stance that sanctions on North Korea would not be lifted until the country had fully denuclearized. On January 31, 2019, Biegun indicated that American negotiators may not demand that North Korea provide a full inventory of its nuclear and missile programs as a first step toward denuclearization, a demand that North Korea had been resisting.


Preparations


Preparatory talks

On October 7, 2018, Pompeo traveled to
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
to negotiate the second summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un. He later met with Moon in
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
to inform him of the upcoming summit. On January 8, 2019, Kim Jong Un met with Xi to consult with him on the possibility of the Trump–Kim summit in Vietnam. On February 16, 2019, ''
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
'' reported that Kim Jong Un would arrive in Vietnam on February 25 ahead of the summit.


Train journey to Vietnam

Kim Jong Un departed from Pyongyang on February 23, 2019, according to images released by the KCNA news agency. The exact itinerary was kept secret. The train arrived in Đồng Đăng railway station of the Vietnamese border town of
Đồng Đăng Đồng Đăng �ə̤wŋ˨˩:ɗaŋ˧˧is a Xã, commune of Lạng Sơn province in the Northeastern Vietnam, Northern Midlands and Mountains region of Vietnam. History Middle Ages The area of Đồng Đăng (同登) was inherently deserted. It ...
on February 26, and Kim Jong Un continued on to Hanoi by car. Some experts analyzed Kim's motive for choosing to take a train instead of flying: Kim had wanted to follow
Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...
, who had also traveled to Vietnam through China by railway in 1958.


Meeting location


Locations considered

''Bloomberg'' and the South Korean newspaper '' Munhwa Ilbo'' anticipated the location of the second Trump–Kim Summit to be Hanoi, due to Vietnam maintaining good diplomatic relations with both
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. During the 2019
State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...
Address, Trump announced Vietnam as the host of the second meeting between the two leaders.


City choice

Several Vietnamese cities were considered to host the summit, which included government direct-administered cities (Hanoi,
Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...
,
Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
) and some other places like
Hạ Long Hạ Long ( , ) is a first-class provincial city and the capital city of Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. It was found in 1993, when the old capital, Hòn Gai, was merged with Bãi Cháy, the main tourist area. The city mainly lies on Hạ L ...
,
Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...
, and Phú Quốc. Hanoi was determined to be the best candidate due to various reasons, such as being presented with the title "City for Peace" by the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, being the capital of Vietnam, and as such, a favourable place for Vietnamese leaders to meet North Korean and American leaders. It was reported that when the city in Vietnam was still being discussed, the main contenders were Hanoi (favoured by North Korea because it has its embassy there) and Da Nang (favored by the United States because the 2017 APEC Vietnam summit was held there). On February 8, 2019, Trump confirmed that Hanoi would host the summit.


Venue choice

North Korean officials had repeatedly investigated the State Guest House and the Hôtel Métropole, Hanoi's first international hotel, the latter of which became the site for the summit.


Summit meeting


First day


Meeting with Vietnamese leaders

Trump met
General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...
, President of Vietnam Nguyễn Phú Trọng around 11:42 am local time. They watched the Vietnamese airline executives sign a series of business deals with U.S. companies. Trump also had a meeting with the Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on February 27.


One-on-one meeting

At Hanoi's Metropole Hotel, Trump and Kim Jong Un had a one-on-one meeting for 30 minutes on Wednesday evening. They started the summit at 6:30 pm local time (6:30 am EST) with a handshake and then participated in a one-on-one meeting with interpreters only.


Dinner

Trump and Kim started with a social dinner in Hanoi on Wednesday. There were a few key attendees at the dinner; seated at the round table were U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...
and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, DPRK Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong-ho. Trump assured North Korea a "tremendous future for your country" in his initial comments with Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un described the second summit as a "courageous political decision" by Trump and also added that there had been "a lot of thinking, effort, and patience" between now and the previous June summit in Singapore. On the first night of the summit, the White House announced that Trump and Kim Jong Un would sign a "joint agreement" the next afternoon.


Second day


One-on-one meeting

During the one-on-one meeting in Hanoi, Kim Jong Un was asked by a reporter if he would consider opening a US liaison office in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un initially hesitated to answer the question and asked Trump to excuse the press from the summit room, but Trump urged Kim Jong Un to answer the question, to which he responded through an interpreter that the idea was "welcomeable". Trump acknowledged the response as a positive one. After that, another reporter asked if Kim Jong Un was willing to shut down his nuclear program, to which he responded, "If I'm not willing to do that, I wouldn't be here right now." The leaders went into a closed-room meeting, but the planned working lunch between Trump and Kim Jong Un and the potential joint signing ceremony were canceled. After preliminary negotiations between Trump and Kim Jong Un went over a period of time,
White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...
Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters waiting to cover the lunch that it had been called off. One month after the summit ended, ''Reuters'' reported that on the second day of the summit, Trump passed Kim Jong Un a note that bluntly called for North Korea to surrender all its nuclear weapons and fuel, in similar fashion to the " Libya model", a proposal the North Koreans had repeatedly rejected. The scheduled ceremonial luncheon was then abruptly canceled and the summit ended.


End of summit

On February 28, 2019, the White House announced that the summit was cut short and that no agreement was reached. Sanders did not tell reporters why the schedule was changed and whether there was going to be a signing ceremony; the unexpected turn of events caused stocks on the South Korea stock exchange to fall. Trump said in a press conference after the summit that it was cut short because North Korea wanted an end to economics sanctions. He elaborated and said: "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that ..We had to walk away from that particular suggestion. We had to walk away from that." During the press conference after the summit, Trump discussed American student Otto Warmbier, who was imprisoned for 17 months by North Korea for conviction of subversion, and who died shortly after being returned comatose to the U.S. Trump said he believed Kim Jong Un's word that he did not personally know about Warmbier's alleged poor treatment when Warmbier was in North Korean custody, and that it was not to Kim Jong Un's benefit to allow Warmbier to be treated poorly.


= A news conference from North Korea

= Hours later, in a rare move, North Korean officials called a news conference. Ri offered a different account of his country's position compared to Trump: North Korea had only proposed a partial lifting of sanctions. He stated that North Korea wanted 5 out of 11 sanctions originally imposed by the United Nations in 2016 and 2017 lifted; in exchange, Ri said that North Korea offered to "permanently and completely" dismantle its primary nuclear facility in Yongbyon, and that American experts would be allowed to observe. Ri also quoted North Korea as proposing to put in writing that the country would end all nuclear tests and long-range missile tests. He said that the North Koreans saw that no agreement could be made after the United States demanded one further measure in addition to destroying the Yongbyon nuclear facility. Lastly, Ri concluded that North Korea's proposal would not be changed. According to ''
NK News NK News is an American subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about North Korea. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C., and London. Reporting is based on in ...
'', Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui made the proposal to dismantle Yongbyon just before the talks collapsed, but the U.S. team walked out when Choe was unable to give details.


News report

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
reported that American negotiators had dropped their demand that North Korea provide a detailed inventory of its nuclear and missile programs on the second day of the summit. Nuclear scientist Dr. Siegfried Hecker claimed: "Yongbyon is the heart of North Korea's nuclear program, and if we are completely dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear facility, North Korea would never be able to make
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
there again."


Reactions and analysis


Pre-summit

Cheong Seong-chang, vice president of research planning at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, said: "After the first Trump–Kim summit, for 260 days, they did not waste their timeliness. Instead, they continuously finalized their negotiation strategies for the two leaders' agreement and terms for the next step to be discussed on the second Trump–Kim summit."NBC-NEWS-JAPAN - April 17, 2018
Second Trump-Kim summit seen coming as North Korea continues to 'nuclearize' , Japantimes.co.jp
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
believed that Kim Jong Un could have potentially learned from Vietnam's
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...
, political and
economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
history during the second Trump-Kim summit. While the country has strict rules against political
liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...
, it is fairly lax in its social, religious, and economic guidelines. Citizens were able to travel to neighboring countries often. Vietnam also pursued multi-front foreign policies so they would not be dependent on just one economy and built modern systems for banking and finance. According to the BBC, North Korea also learned from Vietnam's mistakes in the past regarding
natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...
management and political unrest resolution. The BBC believed these are some cases North Korea could learn from Vietnam's practice to help them in improving their
economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
by attracting foreign investors and developing closer relations with other countries. It was also assumed by the BBC that Vietnam's economic reform is a better pattern for the DPRK to follow than
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
's.
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
assumed that the impact of China on the second Trump–Kim summit would be significant. The relationship between China and North Korea is centered on "mutual benefit", but it differs from "mutual trust". Australian professor Carlyle Thayer claimed China and North Korea are of the corresponding inclination after Kim Jong Un's four visits to China and "it indicates some kind of coordination". China believes that it is impossible for North Korea to abruptly destroy nuclear missiles. However, it is hoped that North Korea's nuclear missile program will be shut down gradually, as economic sanctions against North Korea will be eased.aljazeera.com - February 22, 201
''China's shadow looms large over second Trump-Kim summit ' , aljazeera.com News''
Andrew Kim, former head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, believes in Kim Jong Un's genuine desire to achieve denuclearization and get a concession from the United States. In a speech Andrew Kim made on February 22 at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, he said that Kim Jong Un told United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
he is a father and husband and he does not want his children to live their lives carrying nuclear weapons on their back". He also believes that the DPRK tried to strike a deal with previous administrations, but they waited too long, and they aim to finalize the deal with the Trump administration before it's too late. Kim Jong Un assessed that the closure of the Yongbyon nuclear facility would be the beginning of full denuclearization and that this could lead to a peace treaty. The Yongbyon facility is known to be the center of nuclear development and research in North Korea. The ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
'' reported that Kim Jong Un's previous propaganda was changed into
patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...
and
economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
, and in improving the relationship between the United States, China, and South Korea.


Post-summit


South Korea and Japan

South Korea and Japan both supported Trump's decision to cut the summit short. However, a spokesman for Moon said "We do regret that President Trump and Kim Jong-un did not reach a complete agreement at today's summit," but also that the summit "made more meaningful progress than any other time in the past".


= South Korea

= Jung Da-min, staff reporter at ''
The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' () is a daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language, Korean-language daily. It is the oldest active daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. ...
'', believed that the Hanoi summit was not a total loss since it still resulted in diplomacy between the two countries. Though no concrete agreement regarding denuclearization was reached, Kim Jong Un was quoted last Tuesday (March 5) that he was committed to the complete denuclearization of his country. However, the description of denuclearization seemed to differ between the U.S. and North Korea, which was why Biegun advised that the U.S. would not accept a "phased denuclearization". Even though no agreement was signed in Hanoi, both countries are open to future talks, which shows that some agreement was made regarding few agendas, like the installation of a liaison office in Pyongyang. Hwang Jihwan, a professor in the Department of International Relations at the
University of Seoul The University of Seoul (UOS; ) is a municipal public university in Seoul, South Korea. UOS is famous in South Korea for a very large number of alumni working as national or municipal government officials in South Korea. UOS specializes in ur ...
, believed the no-deal outcome of the Hanoi summit was because both parties asked for more than what each could give. He believed that no deal is better than a bad deal, and suggested that the two leaders should aim for realistic goals in future summits; asking for huge deals from each other would not yield favorable results for both sides, but working on smaller, workable agreements that would be meritorious for both countries was better than leaving the negotiation table empty-handed. ''
The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ), also known as ''The Chosun Daily,'' is a Korean-language newspaper of record for South Korea and among the oldest active newspapers in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo ...
'' reported on May 30, 2019, that Kim Hyok-chol, the lead working-level negotiator for North Korea at the Hanoi summit, was executed along with four other diplomats in March 2019. It also reported that Kim Yong-chol was sentenced to hard labor. However, several photos were later released on June 3, 2019, showing Kim Yong-chol alive and attending a musical performance alongside Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol-ju.


United States

A
Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its university charter, c ...
poll found that while 65% of those surveyed—including 42% of Democrats—agreed that holding the summit was a good idea, 44% said it was likely to help reduce the North Korean nuclear threat. Former special assistant to U.S. President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
and a senior fellow at the
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...
,
Doug Bandow Douglas Bandow (born April 15, 1957) is an American political writer working as a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Bandow regularly writes on military non-interventionism, and is a critic of NATO enlargement. Background Bandow obtained h ...
, compared North Korea and U.S. relations to that of Reagan and
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, where the agreement resulted in the end of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. Bandow contended that Trump was demanding unrealistically for Kim Jong Un to dismantle all his nuclear facilities, whereas Kim was only agreeing to shut down the Nyongbyon Nuclear facility in exchange for a partial lifting of a few UN sanctions against his country. Asking continuously for an all nukes for sanctions deal is deemed as malicious in its intent and illogical and that it would put a strain on U.S.–North Korean relationships, which were volatile in the past, and could result in more problems for the U.S. and its allies in Asia, according to Bandow. Douglas Dillon, Professor of Government at the
Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
, and former director of Harvard's Belfer Center, Graham T. Allison, believed that the Hanoi summit was not a complete failure, and compared the state of affairs to the Reagan–Gorbachev era. Like Trump, Reagan also had to deal with negative public opinion regarding his dealings with the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, but he was able to remove all of the Soviet Union's intermediate nuclear-armed missiles with an INF deal. Compared to the USSR, North Korea is also not a normalized country, but Trump was able to directly engage with Kim Jong Un, something
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
were not able to do in their combined 16-year term. U.S. Senior Expert on North Korea, Frank Aum, said that future goals of the Trump administration should be the founding of smaller deals that resulted from the Hanoi summit. Deals that include the declaration of the end of the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, the exchange of liaison offices in both Pyongyang and Washington, some sanctions relief, and verified dismantling of some of North Korea's nuclear facilities ( Nyngbyon, Punggye-ri, and Dongchang-ri) are attainable. According to Aum, Trump's "Big Deal" approach to North Korea would have been unrealistic, since it is not possible to achieve complete denuclearization in two years. He also said that some of the road-maps to establishing complete denuclearization might be the most hopeful solution. A political scientist specializing in international security, Christopher J. Watterson, argued in '' The Diplomat'' that "North Korea's willingness to give up fissile material production in Nyongbyon might reflect an intent to shift operations to Kangson, rather than an intent to cease fissile material production altogether". ''Reuters'' revealed the existence of a document handed to Kim Jong Un by Trump that may have caused the collapse of the Hanoi summit. The document and its contents were first proposed by Bolton in 2004 and—according to Washington-based expert on North Korea, Jenny Town—has been rejected more than once and "... to bring it up again ... would rather be insulting." She also said that the U.S. should have learned that this was not effective diplomacy, and shows they have not learned how to properly negotiate with North Korea. Abby Bard, a research associate for Asia policy at the
Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy think tank, research and advocacy organization which presents a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal viewpoint on Economic policy, economic and social issues. CAP is headquarter ...
, suggested Trump and Kim Jong Un's teams need critical space between them to build trust and verify the intentions between the two parties. Without regular communication from both sides, it would be impossible to reach an agreement as they are both skeptical of one another's intent. Biegun did not meet with his North Korean counterpart before the summit took place, which resulted in the meeting not having enough support for negotiations. Despite the collapse of the Hanoi summit, Katharine Moon, professor of political sciences and the Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies at
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...
, said that there were good things that came out of it: it opened doors for further negotiations in the future, and these talks require working-level counterparts that aim to pursue respective and mutual interests between the two countries to breakthrough their engagement. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
said that she was glad Trump walked away from the second summit without a joint agreement. She emphasized that "What he U.S. wantsis the denuclearization of North Korea," and she also believes that although North Korea wanted the sanctions lifted, but refused to give up all their nuclear weapons, it was right that Trump decided not to sign any deal. Se Young Jang, a fellow at the Stanton Nuclear Security at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
's Security Studies Program, said timing was crucial compared to the previous Clinton Administration's Agreed Framework with North Korea that failed to proceed. Trump and Kim Jong Un both revealed details of the summit, which left very little room for flexible compromises for future negotiations. Pompeo said in an interview with CBS on April 5 that he believed that the summit was an opportunity for both the U.S. and North Korea to have a deeper understanding of each other, and hoped that a third Trump–Kim summit would happen in the near future. He also believed that South Korea is helping with the denuclearization efforts, and he understands that many North and South Koreans have the same blood and they are family.


Malaysia

Dr. Chiew-Ping Hoo, a professor at the
National University of Malaysia The National University of Malaysia (, abbreviated as UKM) is a public research university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), ...
, said that the negotiations at the Hanoi summit changed when Bolton was added to the panel. He advised to broaden focus from the Yongbyon nuclear site, and add other sites that produced
weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...
. Trump had agreed with Bolton's advice due to U.S. domestic issues, which resulted in a no-deal outcome for the summit. Hoo also believed that North Korea is not convinced that changing the deal is the right course, but to return to the pre-Hanoi agreement details. Moon was ready to meet with Kim Jong Un for a fourth time to try and save the stalled denuclearization deals between the U.S. and North Korea; however, Kim Jong Un asked Moon to support a common goal to unite North and South Korea instead of supporting the United States. In previous talks, both leaders agreed to reconnect the railways and roads that run through both their countries, normalize a factory park in the Kaesong Industrial Zone, and allow South Korean tourists to visit the
Mount Kumgang Mount Kumgang () or the Kumgang Mountains is a mountain massif, with a peak, in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, formerly part of Kangwŏn Province, and is part of the ...
resort again. However, this joint project required the partial relief of U.N. sanctions to begin operations. Moon also planned to invite Kim Jong Un to the ASEAN Summit in South Korea in November 2019. Despite the unresolved Hanoi deal, Trump was optimistic that a denuclearization deal could still be achieved from North Korea. Kim Jong Un said that " orth Koreamaintain good relations with the U.S. president, as to be able to exchange letters asking about health anytime if we want", but Kim wanted the U.S. to come to the table with a constructive attitude for the nuclear deal. Joseph Yun, the American Special Representative for North Korea Policy until March 2018, said of the summit's outcome: "This really speaks to the lack of preparation. You cannot draft a joint statement out of nothing. They never quite got around to building a consensus around sanctions, and that led to the deadlock." Veteran diplomacy and national security journalist Michael Gordon reported in ''The Wall Street Journal'': "If the two sides had opted for the traditional bottom-up approach to diplomacy, their diplomats would have worked to close the divide and only arranged for a summit when they appeared to be within striking distance of an agreement. However, U.S. and North Korean diplomats have had only intermittent meetings since the June summit, and both sides bet they would be more successful by pressing their case at another summit. Mr. Kim calculated that Mr. Trump would be more flexible in agreeing to lift sanctions than his subordinates. Mr. Trump, for his part, assumed that he was the best person to pursue the art of the nuclear deal." Richard Haass, president of the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
think tank, stated, "No deal is better than a bad deal, and the president was right to walk. But this should not have happened. A busted summit is the risk you run when too much faith is placed in personal relations with a leader like Kim, when the summit is inadequately prepared, and when the president had signaled he was confident of success." Trump was poorly received for his stance on the Warmbier incident. His supportive remarks for Kim Jong Un in his speeches while negotiating denuclearization were not received well by the Warmbier family, who were grateful to him after their son's return. Trump said that the Warmbier case is a "delicate balance", since he was trying to establish a big denuclearization deal with Kim Jong Un, but he sympathizes for the Warmbier family at the same time. In the speech he gave to the
Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC ) is an annual political conference attended by Conservatism in the United States, conservative Activism, activists and officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American ...
, he mentioned that there were positive developments in negotiating the return of American prisoners in North Korea, and the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War. His relationship's improvement with Kim Jong Un was beneficial to the U.S.'s national interest.


China and Russia

A meeting between Kim Jong Un and Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
was held from April 25 to 26, 2019. Biegun was scheduled to visit
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
that month to discuss the full denuclearization of North Korea. Putin believed that Kim Jong Un needed international security guarantees to give up North Korea's nuclear arsenal and program.


Plans for another summit

On June 12, 2019, Trump received a letter from Kim Jong Un which he described as "beautiful". On June 22, an undated photo was also released by the North Korean government of Kim Jong Un reading a letter from Trump; Kim Jong Un described the letter as "excellent" and described Trump as the "supreme leader" of the United States. On June 26, it was announced that talks were underway to hold a third US-North Korean summit. Trump previously tweeted in April 2019 that a third summit "would be good". Kim Jong Un later denied reports of continued talks with the U.S., and relations with the US State Department remained hostile.


June 2019 DMZ Summit

On June 30, 2019, Kim Jong Un met with Trump at the
Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korea, Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It wa ...
, with Trump being the first US president to cross the border into North Korea. Kim Jong Un and Trump joined Moon for an unprecedented three-way gathering. Kim Jong Un and Trump agreed to restart negotiations for the Korean denuclearization process, but no further progress was made.


Satellite imagery of Sohae Launching Station

Days after the summit ended, commercial satellite imagery indicated that reconstruction of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which previously appeared to be in the middle of dismantling by North Korea, may have been performed during the summit, and that the site could be operational. A senior U.S. State Department official acknowledged "some level of reassembly" but stopped short of concluding the site was operational. Town remarked: "Given how much has been done at this site, it looks like more than a couple days' worth of activity ... It's hard to say if it happened immediately after the summit and they just rushed everything — I guess it's possible — but it's more likely that it started just before." South Korean National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon said there was recent transport vehicle activity at the Sanumdong
ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
factory. Some analysts believed that the renewed activity at Sohae and Sanumdong was designed to pressure Washington back to the negotiating table, rather than to actually restart the nuclear testing program.


See also

*
Korean reunification Korean reunification is the hypothetical unification of North Korea and South Korea into a singular Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification of the peninsula while still maintaining two opposing regimes was started by the Ju ...
*
North Korea–United States relations Relations between North Korea and the United States have been historically hostile. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations. Instead, they have adopted an indirect diplomatic arrangement using neutral intermediaries. The Embassy of S ...
*
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction North Korea has a nuclear weapons program, and, as of 2024, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 50 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year.Nuclear power in North Korea *
List of nuclear weapons tests of North Korea North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, ...
* 2017–18 North Korea crisis * 2017 North Korean missile tests * April 2018 inter-Korean summit * May 2018 inter-Korean summit * Kim–Xi meetings (First meeting to fifth meeting, 2018–2019) * List of international trips made by Kim Jong Un


References


External links


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