The first summit in June 2018 between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised a lot but has since delivered little. On Wednesday, the two leaders will meet again in Vietnam, and there’s little clarity on what to expect from the meeting’s outcome.
The first summit in June 2018 between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised a lot but has since delivered little. On Wednesday, the two leaders will meet again in Vietnam, and there’s little clarity on what to expect from the meeting’s outcome.
The US President has been the driving force behind this week’s summit, aiming to re-create the global spectacle of his first meeting with the North Korean leader last year. He’s also said he’s in no rush to get North Korea to prove it has abandoned its nuclear weapons.
“I’m not in a rush. I don’t want to rush anybody, I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” Trump told a meeting of US governors on Sunday.
So what’s on the agenda of the two-day meeting that begins Wednesday?
Denuclearisation
The biggest issue will remain forcing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. After the Singapore Summit, North Korea did suspend its nuclear and long-range missile tests and also dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility. However, done without the presence of outside experts, the measures were not seen as material steps toward reducing nuclear capability.
Before heading to Hanoi, Trump tweeted that without nuclear weapons, North Korea “could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world.”
US officials have said they are hoping to have a shared understanding with North Korea on what denuclearisation means at the summit. They are also likely to seek to create a roadmap that sets expectations and the process for negotiations on denuclearisation beyond this week’s summit.
A freeze on North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and missile programs is also likely to be on the agenda.
End of Korean war
Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said earlier this month that Trump was “ready to end this war”, fuelling speculation that the formal end of the conflict may be near.
South Korean officials on Monday also indicated that President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, could agree on a joint political statement declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War when they meet, reported The New York Times.
The North and the United States have remained technically at war since the Korean War was halted in a truce in 1953, and Washington still keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to prevent it from restarting. However, while North Korea might want US troops to leave South Korea as part of the arrangement, that’s unlikely to happen.
In such a situation, the US would push to leave behind a watchdog in the North to check if Kim redevelops his nuclear programs.
Lifting of sanctions and bilateral ties
Since the Singapore summit, Kim has stepped up efforts to find and return the remains of some American soldiers killed or unaccounted for during the Korean War.
The North Korean leader also said in January that North Korea is “ready to re-open Kaesong industrial park and tours to Mount Kumgang without any preconditions or price,”. The two inter-Korean projects require at least partial easing of sanctions to resume operations. But there’s no sign that the US plans to ease sanctions just yet.
But in return for concrete North Korean steps on denuclearisation, Trump might offer something Kim has long wanted — diplomatic relations with America. There is speculation that the two leaders might agree to set up liaison offices in Washington and Pyongyang.
The US President has been the driving force behind this week’s summit, aiming to re-create the global spectacle of his first meeting with the North Korean leader last year. He’s also said he’s in no rush to get North Korea to prove it has abandoned its nuclear weapons.
“I’m not in a rush. I don’t want to rush anybody, I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” Trump told a meeting of US governors on Sunday.
So what’s on the agenda of the two-day meeting that begins Wednesday?
Denuclearisation
The biggest issue will remain forcing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. After the Singapore Summit, North Korea did suspend its nuclear and long-range missile tests and also dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility. However, done without the presence of outside experts, the measures were not seen as material steps toward reducing nuclear capability.
Before heading to Hanoi, Trump tweeted that without nuclear weapons, North Korea “could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world.”
US officials have said they are hoping to have a shared understanding with North Korea on what denuclearisation means at the summit. They are also likely to seek to create a roadmap that sets expectations and the process for negotiations on denuclearisation beyond this week’s summit.
A freeze on North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and missile programs is also likely to be on the agenda.
End of Korean war
Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said earlier this month that Trump was “ready to end this war”, fuelling speculation that the formal end of the conflict may be near.
South Korean officials on Monday also indicated that President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, could agree on a joint political statement declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War when they meet, reported The New York Times.
The North and the United States have remained technically at war since the Korean War was halted in a truce in 1953, and Washington still keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to prevent it from restarting. However, while North Korea might want US troops to leave South Korea as part of the arrangement, that’s unlikely to happen.
In such a situation, the US would push to leave behind a watchdog in the North to check if Kim redevelops his nuclear programs.
Lifting of sanctions and bilateral ties
Since the Singapore summit, Kim has stepped up efforts to find and return the remains of some American soldiers killed or unaccounted for during the Korean War.
The North Korean leader also said in January that North Korea is “ready to re-open Kaesong industrial park and tours to Mount Kumgang without any preconditions or price,”. The two inter-Korean projects require at least partial easing of sanctions to resume operations. But there’s no sign that the US plans to ease sanctions just yet.
But in return for concrete North Korean steps on denuclearisation, Trump might offer something Kim has long wanted — diplomatic relations with America. There is speculation that the two leaders might agree to set up liaison offices in Washington and Pyongyang.