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News > U.S.

Kim Jong-Un Arrives in Vietnam Ahead of Meeting With Trump

  • North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un waves as he arrives at the Dong Dang railway station, Vietnam, at the border with China, February 26, 2019.

    North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un waves as he arrives at the Dong Dang railway station, Vietnam, at the border with China, February 26, 2019. | Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Published 26 February 2019
Opinion

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Vietnam for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled for Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Vietnam for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled for Wednesday.

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Trump, Kim Arrive in Vietnam Ahead of 2nd Summit: Ministry

The second US-North Korea summit is a follow-up from the historic talks between the two countries that took place in Singapore in 2018.

Kim was greeted by a large crowd, who had been camped-out most of the day in anticipation for the North Korean leader's arrival. He was subsequently ushered from his train into a waiting car by security officials, where he was scheduled to head to the Hanoi Melia Hotel, ahead of a visit with Vietnamese leaders, according to CNBC. 

Kim made the journey from Pyongynang to Vietnam in his famous armored train, paying homage to his grandfather - North Korea's first leader, Kim II-sung, who traveled by train when he went to Vietnam, and throughout Europe.

According to BBC, Kim's journey took more than two days and traversed about 4000 km (2485 miles). 

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive later on Tuesday, and while there are few expectations for the meeting, the previous summit resulted in a 'gentleman's agreement' that the two countries would "strive for denuclerisation," reported AlJazeera.

The only set plan is that Trump will meet Kim for a "brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening, followed by dinner together, along with their respective advisors," according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. The next day, the two will meet again for a series of back-and-forth meetings.

President Trump has been coy about reports suggesting that denuclerisation will be achieved, saying he was "in no rush," according to AlJazeera.

"I don't want to rush anybody. I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy," he said.

Washington had previously said that North Korea had to unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons before there could be any sanctions relief.

According to TeleSUR, "the initial meeting in June 2018 produced a vague statement in which Kim and Trump outlined four commitments without an exact timeline: establishing "new relations" for peace and prosperity; building a "lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula;" working "towards denuclearisation;" and recovering and repatriating the remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-1953 Korean War."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also arrived in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, where he is set to meet Washington's Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun.

Pompeo, Trump's top envoy in his efforts to improve ties with North Korea, has made several trips to Pyongyang to negotiate steps towards ending its nuclear programme.

Kim Jong-un will meet with the Vietnamese president, Nguyen Phu Trong early Tuesday as well as the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, before continuing on to visit the industrial zone of Bac Ninh, Laos, and the port city of Hai Phong, ahead of the bilateral meeting with President Trump.

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