Leaders of the U.S. and North Korea Meet in Vietnam

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, met for the second time on Wednesday, March 8, in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. At the beginning of the meeting, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un appeared briefly before reporters. Donald Trump told reporters, "I think this negotiation will be very successful." The U.S. President also responded to a question about whether he had 'backed down' from his demand for denuclearization, saying, "No." Kim Jong Un stated that the leaders of the two countries had removed many obstacles to attend the second summit. Kim Jong Un also praised Donald Trump's 'brave' decision to initiate negotiations with North Korea. The leaders continued their discussions over dinner. Donald Trump tweeted that he had a very good meeting with the North Korean leader and looked forward to continuing negotiations on Thursday. The meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will continue until Thursday. Both parties hope to find a way to implement the agreements reached during their first meeting in the spring of this year. The first meeting between the North Korean and U.S. leaders took place eight months ago in Singapore. Since then, Pyongyang has refrained from conducting nuclear and missile tests. However, critics of the U.S. President argue that he granted significant concessions to North Korea simply by meeting with its leader last year. These criticisms may resurface following the Vietnam summit. Nevertheless, U.S. officials state that the country is determined to convince the North Korean leader to accept nuclear disarmament, although Kim Jong Un has not personally made such a decision yet. The two countries have not agreed on the precise meaning of nuclear disarmament in previous negotiations and meetings. Kim Jong Un agreed to take steps towards denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the Singapore summit, which could be interpreted as the withdrawal of U.S. forces equipped with nuclear weapons from the region and the dismantling of the nuclear umbrella over South Korea. In return, the U.S. government demands a complete halt to all nuclear activities and missile programs in North Korea. According to a U.S. official, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea, which number around 28,000, is not on the agenda of these negotiations. He added that U.S. sanctions against North Korea will continue to encourage effective actions towards nuclear disarmament.