The meeting will take place in Vietnam on February 27 and 28. The US president: "We continue our historic push for peace on the Korean peninsula". "If I had not been elected president of the United States, at this moment, in my opinion, we would be in a great war with North Korea."
Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - US President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet for a second summit to be held in Vietnam between February 27 and 28. This was announced last night by Trump himself, during the State of the Union given before the US Congress.
" As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula," Trump said. "There is still a lot of work to do, but my relationship with Kim Jong-un is good".
The first meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore last June was the first between a US president and a North Korean leader. The two Heads of State have expressed their support for denuclearization and the elimination of sanctions, which should go hand in hand. But no deadline had been established.
"Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months," Trump said. "If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.
In the last year, North Korea has released US detainees, suspended long-range nuclear and missile tests and dismantled - without the presence of external experts - a site for nuclear tests and parts of a rocket launching plant.
Pyongyang has repeatedly called on the United States to reciprocate efforts with measures such as the lifting of sanctions, but Washington has asked North Korea to provide a detailed account of its nuclear and missile facilities, which would be inspected and dismantled under a potential agreement.
At the second Trump-Kim summit, some experts argue that North Korea will try to barter the destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear plant for the US promise to declare the formal end of the Korean War; open a liaison office in Pyongyang; and allow the North to resume some lucrative economic projects with South Korea.
The announcement of the second summit between Trump and Kim comes after US President and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-chol in Washington last month. Immediately thereafter, Stephen Biegun, United States Special Representative for North Korea; Choe Son-hui, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea; and Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's special representative for peace and security affairs on the Korean peninsula, took part in trilateral talks in Stockholm.