Vietnam welcomes the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and is willing to contribute to its success, said a spokesperson after Trump announced he will meet with Kim in the Southeast Asian country later this month.
US President Donald Trump (R) meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
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During his second State of the Union on Wednesday, Trump said the second gathering between him and Kim will take place in Vietnam in February 27-28, but did not specify where in Vietnam the summit will be held. Hanoi and Da Nang, a coastal resort city in the country’s central region which hosted the APEC summit in November 2017, are two possible locations.
According to some experts, Vietnam’s geographic proximity to North Korea, the country’s economic success after the normalization of diplomatic ties with the United States, and its neutral stance are factors behind its being chosen as the venue for the next summit.
In his speech, Trump said his relationship with North Korea's leader is "good" and progress has made in his administration's efforts to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula.
The president, however, said much work remains to be done and gave an ominous warning about the risks of heightened tensions with North Korea, going so far as to claim that Washington and Pyongyang would be at war if he had not been elected president.
After the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders in Singapore last June, Trump declared that North Korea's nuclear arsenal no longer posed a threat to the United States. However, limited progress has been made.
