The United States President Donald Trump and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Un have arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday to address their second summit, with Trump stating not backing off from his demand for complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula.
According to Reuters news reports, Trump and Kim shook their hands and smiled briefly before a row of both countries’ flags at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
The US president told reporters there that he thought the dialogues with Kim would be very successful, while also asserted that he was “not walking back on denuclearization” of Korean Peninsula.
When asked if he would further declare a formal end to the Korean War, president Trump said, “We’ll see.”
N Korean president Kim said they had overcome many obstacles in order to hold their second summit in Vietnam, and said he hoped his talks with Trump would be successful.
Kim and Trump are scheduled to hold a 20-minute, one-to-one dialogue, followed by their dinner with both country’s aides.
The US president Trump will be accompanied by the acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Kim will be accompanied by his country’s top representative Kim Yong Chol as well as foreign minister Ri Yong Ho.
The White House said Trump and Kim will, on Thursday, hold “a series of back and forth” meetings. The venue for their Thursday’s meeting has been not yet announced.
Ahead of his meeting with Kim, Trump, in a tweet, wrote: “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!”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019
Late last year, Trump has said that Kim and he “fell in love”, and today they had developed “a very, very good relationship” on the eve of his departure for their second summit.