US President Donald Trump tweeted after arriving in Vietnam that North Korea will thrive as Vietnam has done if it denuclearizes. “Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. 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 wrote on Twitter Wednesday [February 27].
He also asked Democrats not to tell him how to handle talks with North Korea, claiming they should have acted on the issue while Barack Obama was in the White House.
Trump and Kim are set to kick off their two-day summit in Hanoi with a short meeting, followed by a dinner on Wednesday. The two leaders will then meet again the following day, most likely for one-on-one talks.
After Vietnam was chosen for the second summit, international media has attemped to find out reasons for that. The majority of news agencies and experts have attributed Vietnam’s fast economy and Vietnam-North Korea politic similarity for the choice.
Picking Vietnam could make sense for both US and South Korea, because American officials have pointed to it as a political and economic model for North Korea to follow.
Vietnam, a former war foe of the US, has joined the global economy and become a close political as well as robust trading partner for Washington.
From 1995 to 2016, a period of heady economic growth in Vietnam, trade between the US and Vietnam grew to nearly US$52 billion from US$451 million. Hanoi is now among Washington’s fastest-growing export markets.
Vietnam's econmy has an average growth of 6%-7% for two decades. In 2018, its trade value hit US$482 billion and enjoyed a trade surplus of US$7.2 billion, according to the Vietnamese General Department of Customs. Foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments, meanwhile, reached US$35.6 billion in the same year.
Vietnam's GDP growth rate for years. Photo: World Bank/BBC/FT
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On the other hand, Pyongyang is one of Hanoi’s oldest friends. North Korea recognized Vietnam’s communist regime diplomatically in 1950, four years before Vietnam won its independence from France. It also provided material and personnel to Vietnam during its war against the US.
Vietnam, for its part, supported North Korea’s membership in the ASEAN Regional Forum, a dialogue on political and security issues, and sponsored reconciliation talks between North Korea and Japan.
And during North Korea’s devastating famine in the 1990s, Hanoi provided Pyongyang with rice.
Vietnam, for its part, supported North Korea’s membership in the ASEAN Regional Forum, a dialogue on political and security issues, and sponsored reconciliation talks between North Korea and Japan.
And during North Korea’s devastating famine in the 1990s, Hanoi provided Pyongyang with rice.
