AFP, Hanoi, Vietnam:
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday touted an “AWESOME” future for North Korea ahead of a high-stakes dinner with its leader Kim Jong Un if his “friend” agrees to give up his nuclear arsenal.
The Trump tweet, sporting his familiar use of capital letters for emphasis, said the opportunities for a denuclearised North Korea were “like almost none other in history”. Trump and Kim are due to meet for one-on-one talks, then dinner, in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, followed by more talks Thursday.
He described Kim as “my friend,” a far cry from when the two leaders were slinging personal insults and threats of destruction at each other at the height of tensions over the North’s weapons programmes.
Trump also lashed out at his domestic opponents for their criticism of his engagement with the isolated regime. “The Democrats should stop talking about what I should do with North Korea and ask themselves instead why they didn’t do ‘it’ during eight years of the Obama Administration?” said Trump, referring to his predecessor in the White House. The two days of talks aim to put some flesh on the bones of a vague declaration issued after their first historic meeting in June in Singapore.
Then, Kim committed to work “towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, but diplomatic progress has since stalled due to disagreements over what that means. Trump has appeared to lower US expectations for the summit, saying that he would be happy if Pyongyang’s pause in nuclear and missile testing continued. The president is believed to be considering dangling relief from tough international sanctions. Opening of diplomatic liaison offices is another possible US concession. In return, Washington hopes to get Kim to dismantle the key nuclear facility at Yongbyon, allow in international inspectors, or even hand over a full list of all the country’s nuclear assets-something the North Koreans have categorically refused to do. Despite little progress toward his stated goal of ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons since first meeting Kim in Singapore last year, Trump has said he is fully committed to his personal diplomacy with Kim. Whether the bonhomie can move them beyond summit pageantry to substantive progress on eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States is the question that will dominate their talks in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. “Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize,” Trump said on Twitter. “The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon – Very Interesting!” Trump and Kim will meet at the Metropole hotel at 6:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) for a 20-minute, one-on-one chat followed by a dinner with aides, the White House said. The elegant interior of the 118-year-old Metropole thronged with security and diplomatic personnel from both sides – some snapping pictures – as hotel staff made final preparations. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet on Wednesday for their second summit, betting their personal relationship can break a stalemate over the North’s nuclear weapons and end more than 70 years of hostility.
Despite little progress toward his stated goal of ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons since first meeting Kim in Singapore last year, Trump has said he is fully committed to his personal diplomacy with Kim. Trump said late last year he and Kim “fell in love”, and on the eve of his departure for the second summit said they had developed “a very, very good relationship”.
