US President Donald Trump has announced he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again in their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, later this month in a bid to advance the denuclearization process in the Korean Peninsula.
Donald Trump with Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, 2018 Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
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In his State of the Union address three days ago, Trump said he would meet with Kim on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam, after their historic summit in Singapore last June. He, however, did not specify where in Vietnam the summit will take place.
Hanoi and beach city Da Nang, 770 kilometers to the south of Hanoi, had arisen as two possible locations for the gathering. Trump was in both the two cities when he was in Vietnam in November 2017 to attend the APEC summit and for an official visit.
The president said in his address that while “much work remains to be done,” he hoped his “good” relationship with the North Korean leader would bring about results in the ongoing nuclear talks.
In the following tweet, Trump hailed Kim as a capable leader. “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!”
Vietnam is considered an ideal location for the summit as the country has created an “economic miracle” after three decades of opening-up and renovation and has become a trusted partner of the US after more than two decades of normalized ties. In addition, Kim could travel to the country with a flight largely over friendly Chinese territory.
