US President Donald Trump is likely to hold his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Vietnam in late February, sources in the know about the summit told Bloomberg. They also said negotiations for the meeting, were speeding up.
While the meeting is most likely to be held in the capital, Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City have also been considered, the sources added. While the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi didn’t confirm or deny the news to Bloomberg, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had on Thursday, 17 January, said the country would be happy to host the meeting if chosen.
Earlier on Saturday, 19 January, Trump had confirmed that the location for his next summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, had been chosen and that it would be around the end of February.
“We picked a country,” Trump told reporters, without giving more details.
A Vietnamese government source earlier told AFP that "logistical preparations" were under way to host the encounter, most likely in the capital Hanoi or coastal city of Danang.
US President Donald Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to broker a deal to coax the North to give up its nuclear program, the White House announced on Friday, 18 January.
News of a second meeting with the reclusive North Korean leader came after Trump met at the White House for 90 minutes with a North Korean envoy, Kim Yong Chol, who had travelled to Washington to discuss denuclearisation talks.
She called the Oval Office meeting "productive" and said the US and North Korea would continue to have conversations with hopes that North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons capabilities.
“The United States is going to continue to keep pressure and sanctions on North Korea until we see fully and verified denuclearisation. We’ve had very good steps and good faith from the North Koreans in releasing the hostages and other moves. And so we’re going to continue those conversations and the president looks forward to the next meeting.”White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders
In May, North Korea released three American detainees and sent them home with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after his 90-minute meeting with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang.
Weeks later, Trump had his first, historic meeting with Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore, but little tangible progress has been made on a vague denuclearisation agreement crafted at that summit. No details have been released about how denuclearisation could occur.
The North Korean emissary met earlier with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a Washington hotel and they were reconvening after the White House meeting.
Trump has spoken several times of having a second summit early this year and has exchanged multiple letters with Kim.
Since the first one, several private analysts have published reports detailing continuing North Korean development of nuclear and missile technology. A planned meeting between Pompeo and the envoy, who is North Korea's former spy chief, in New York last November was called off abruptly. US officials said at the time that North Korea had cancelled the session.
The talks have stalled over North Korea’s refusal to provide a detailed accounting of its nuclear and missile facilities that would be used by inspectors to verify any deal to dismantle them.
The North has demanded that the US end harsh economic penalties and provide security guarantees before the North takes any steps beyond its initial suspension of nuclear and missile tests.
Still Awaiting Concrete Steps by N Korea to Dismantle Nuclear Weapons: VP Pence
Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that the US is still awaiting “concrete steps by North Korea to dismantle the nuclear weapons that threaten our people and our allies in the region.”
Trump has offered assurances that a second summit could allow the two leaders to seal a deal resolving the nuclear standoff and improving a relationship marked by decades of animosity and mistrust since the Korean War.
Kim Jong Un expressed frustration in an annual New Year's address over the lack of progress in negotiations. But on a visit to Beijing last week, he said North Korea would pursue a second summit "to achieve results that will be welcomed by the international community," according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.
(With inputs from AP, PTI and Bloomberg)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)