• President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, cut short their second day of meetings in Hanoi, Vietnam. The White House spokeswoman said no agreement was reached.
• Mr. Kim said his presence at the talks indicated a willingness to denuclearize — in principle. And the White House said talks would continue in the future.
• Both leaders expressed interest in opening liaison offices — de facto diplomatic missions — in Washington and Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
[Read about the two leaders’ first day in Hanoi, on Wednesday. And see the summit meeting unfold in pictures.]
Meeting ends abruptly with no agreement
A day that started with the promise of a denuclearization deal and talks of an official declaration to the end the Korean War, ended abruptly without a deal.
“Sometimes you have to walk,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference after the talks fell apart. He said the United States was unwilling to lift all of the sanctions imposed against the North without the promise of full denculearization.
Thursday began with Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim offering mutual compliments ahead of a one-on-one meeting between the two leaders, which later broadened to include other officials. But plans quickly changed.
First, a working lunch was cancelled. Then the signing of joint agreement was scratched.
By midday Thursday, and a closing news conference originally scheduled for 4 p.m. was moved up to 2 p.m.
The White House said no agreement was reached during the meeting. The press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters that Mr. Trump would explain at the news conference.
Kim cites a willingness to denuclearize
Mr. Kim said that his presence at the summit meeting was a sign of his willingness to denuclearize his country.
“If I’m not willing to do that, I won’t be here right now,” he said in response to a reporter’s question before lunch on Thursday.
“That might be the best answer you’ve ever heard,” Mr. Trump replied.
“We’ve had very very productive discussions,” Mr. Trump added. “The relationship is as good as it’s ever been, I think better.”
When a reporter asked Mr. Kim whether he was willing to take concrete steps toward denuclearization, he said, “That’s what we are discussing right now.”
After Mr. Kim said the United States would be welcome to open a liaison office in North Korea, Mr. Trump signaled his interest in the idea. “I actually think it’s a good idea, both ways,” Mr. Trump said.
The two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations. United States consular interests in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, are represented by Sweden. North Korea likewise has no embassy in Washington, but its mission at the United Nations in New York is often a channel for diplomacy with the United States.
After a day of mutual compliments and photo opportunities to start the talks, Thursday began with a one-on-one meeting between the two leaders, that later broadened to include other officials. A scheduled working lunch and signing ceremony appeared to be canceled on Thursday afternoon.
— Austin Ramzy
What North Korea’s state media is saying
North Korea’s state news media reported on Thursday that Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump were striving for “comprehensive and epoch-making results” in their Hanoi summit meeting.
Mr. Kim’s second meeting in less than a year with the president of the world’s most powerful country provided the North’s propaganda machines with a perfect chance to elevate their “supreme leader” at home. The North’s main party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, devoted the entire first two pages of its Thursday edition to Mr. Kim’s “chat” and dinner with Mr. Trump a day earlier, and included 17 color photos.
“Deep opinions were exchanged with a view to making comprehensive and epoch-making results in the talks in order to meet the interest and expectation of the whole world for the successful Hanoi summit,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday.
The agency carried the news eight hours after Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump finished their social dinner — unusually speedy news reporting by the standards of the North’s state media.
— Choe Sang-Hun
A new push toward denuclearization
The United States and North Korea have yet to agree on what “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” means.
Washington wants the “fully verifiable” dismantling of all of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, fissile materials and production facilities.
North Korea has indicated that it will not give up its nuclear deterrent until the United States removes its troops from South Korea and its bombers, aircraft carriers and other nuclear-capable military assets from the Korean Peninsula.
Mr. Trump says North Korea has “tremendous economic potential” and, as a sweetener, he has dangled the prospect of robust trade ties with the United States, South Korea and other nations if the North gives up its missiles.
The subject not on the table
As Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim meet, one major issue, North Korea’s human rights violations, is not likely to be a main talking point.
But rights activists say there should be no glossing over the totalitarian regime’s suppression of free speech and its imprisonment of tens of thousands of political prisoners in a network of gulags.
“North Korea is arguably the worst human rights-abusing government in the world today, so any dialogue with Kim Jong-un should not leave rights off the table,” said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
When a reporter asked Mr. Kim on Thursday if they were discussing human rights, Mr. Trump interjected, saying, “We’re discussing everything. So I just want to thank everybody for being here.”
— Choe Sang-Hun
Source : Nytimes
