Trump to Kim: Second summit will be equal or greater than the first
- hace 5 años
Hanoi (Vietnam), Feb 27 (EFE).- A second summit between the president of the United States and the North Korean leader began on Wednesday with a brief handshake at a hotel in the center of the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi, eight months after their historic first meeting in Singapore.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un were due to meet for a brief one-on-one before attending a dinner with their respective aides at the start of a two-day summit to discuss the denuclearization of the Pyongyang regime.
"I hope the second summit will be equal or greater than the first," Trump said after calling their first meeting in Singapore "very successful."
The two leaders agreed in June last year to work towards the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula, but progress since then has been minimal, as no timeline or terms of the denuclearization were ever specified.
In front of hundreds of reporters and photographers, the US president said that "some people would like to see things go quicker," but that he was "satisfied" with the pace of Pyongyang's abandonment of its nuclear ambitions.
Kim also alluded to the slow progress of negotiations, saying "its been a period that required a lot of patience and effort," adding that the pair "have been able to overcome obstacles."
The North Korean leader, who appeared to be much more comfortable in front of the world's media than he did in Singapore last year, said he would try his best to make sure the summit yields "a good result."
Trump said that the economic potential for the secretive and diplomatically isolated North Korea was "tremendous," before praising the progress made in their personal relationship, "which is a good one," he said.
The pair became embroiled in an escalating war of words in 2017 over Pyongyang's repeated nuclear weapons tests. Trump had labeled Kim "little rocket man," while Kim called the US president "a mentally deranged dotard."
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump had praised Vietnam, the host of the summit, for its booming economy, saying it was "thriving like few places on earth" in a Twitter post.
"North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon - Very Interesting!"
POOL FOOTAGE SHOWING DONALD TRUMP AND KIM JONG-UN MEETING IN HANOI, VIETNAM.
SOUND BITE: 1.) US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP (IN ENGLISH).
2.) NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG-UN (IN KOREAN - IN ENGLISH VIA TRANSLATOR).
Keywords: efe,epa,vietnam,usa,kim,trump,summit
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un were due to meet for a brief one-on-one before attending a dinner with their respective aides at the start of a two-day summit to discuss the denuclearization of the Pyongyang regime.
"I hope the second summit will be equal or greater than the first," Trump said after calling their first meeting in Singapore "very successful."
The two leaders agreed in June last year to work towards the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula, but progress since then has been minimal, as no timeline or terms of the denuclearization were ever specified.
In front of hundreds of reporters and photographers, the US president said that "some people would like to see things go quicker," but that he was "satisfied" with the pace of Pyongyang's abandonment of its nuclear ambitions.
Kim also alluded to the slow progress of negotiations, saying "its been a period that required a lot of patience and effort," adding that the pair "have been able to overcome obstacles."
The North Korean leader, who appeared to be much more comfortable in front of the world's media than he did in Singapore last year, said he would try his best to make sure the summit yields "a good result."
Trump said that the economic potential for the secretive and diplomatically isolated North Korea was "tremendous," before praising the progress made in their personal relationship, "which is a good one," he said.
The pair became embroiled in an escalating war of words in 2017 over Pyongyang's repeated nuclear weapons tests. Trump had labeled Kim "little rocket man," while Kim called the US president "a mentally deranged dotard."
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump had praised Vietnam, the host of the summit, for its booming economy, saying it was "thriving like few places on earth" in a Twitter post.
"North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon - Very Interesting!"
POOL FOOTAGE SHOWING DONALD TRUMP AND KIM JONG-UN MEETING IN HANOI, VIETNAM.
SOUND BITE: 1.) US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP (IN ENGLISH).
2.) NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG-UN (IN KOREAN - IN ENGLISH VIA TRANSLATOR).
Keywords: efe,epa,vietnam,usa,kim,trump,summit