North Korea-U.S. Summit

[Anchor Lead]

U.S. President Donald Trump says North Korea can achieve prosperity quickly, like Vietnam, should it denuclearize. In his second tweet posted from Hanoi, Vietnam at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday Korea time, Trump said, "Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize." The U.S. president expressed his expectations for the upcoming talks by saying, "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!"
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are to meet for the second time after their first summit in Singapore eight months ago. The two heads of state will have their first meeting in Vietnam at 8 p.m. Korea time. The two were to meet at first at the Opera House, but the White House has said that the meeting will take place at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel. The White House added that after greeting each other, Kim and Trump will have a one-on-one meeting for about 20 minutes. They will then have their first dinner together.
Bloomberg News reported on February 26 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed interest in visiting Samsung Electronics' factory in Vietnam. Both Samsung Electronics and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to confirm the matter. However, all eyes are on whether Kim will indeed visit the largest smartphone factory in the world. Meanwhile, sources say some of the North Korean officials from Kim's entourage toured Vietnam to learn more about its economic growth. The officials include Workers' Party Central Committee Vice Chairman Ri Su-yong, Workers' Party Vice Chairman O Su-yong, and Samjiyon Orchestra chief Hyun Song-wol. The North Korean officials have reportedly toured Vietnam's famous tourist attractions such as the Ha Long Bay, and stopped by the Hai Phong Industrial Park, where they visited Vietnam's first domestic automaker, VinFast. O Su-yong, who is also in charge of North Korea's economic affairs, is particularly interested in touring Vietnam's facilities to obtain cues regarding economic reforms and market opening for his home country. Meanwhile, the North Korean leader wasn't spotted outside of his hotel on Wednesday. He is presumed to be staying at the hotel preparing for the summit. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean Workers' Party Central Committee Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol arrived in Hanoi on February 26, but they did not hold additional high-level talks. They are presumed to be devising negotiating strategies based on the results of five days of working-level meetings between North Korean and U.S. officials held so far. Observers say that the two sides have probably already narrowed their differences regarding the agenda and agreements to be reached at the upcoming summit.