Trump to Meet North Korean Leader Kim on 27-28 Feb in Vietnam

In his SOTU address, Trump said the US would have been in a war with North Korea if he wasn’t elected US President.

File image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

(Photo: AP)

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, 6 February, that he will hold the second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam at the end of February.

The summit would be held on 27 and 28 February. Kim and Trump met in Singapore last year, marking the first bilateral meeting between leaders of the two countries.

Addressing Congress during his annual second State of the Union, Trump said progress has been made in his administration's efforts to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula.

The US President said that although much work remains to be done, his relationship with North Korea’s leader is “good.”

Trump, however, also gave an ominous warning about the risks of heightened tensions with Pyongyang.

“If I had not been elected US President, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.”

Donald Trump

The lead US negotiator with North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is set to meet with his North Korean counterpart on Wednesday in Pyongyang.

He said that he hoped the meeting with Kim Hyok Chol would map out "a set of concrete deliverables," according to Reuters.

It is not clear in which city the summit will take place. Hanoi, the nation's capital, and Da Nang, a coastal resort town, have both been floated as possibilities.

(Published in an arrangement with PTI)