HANOI: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Hanoi to throngs of cheering crowds and curious onlookers on Tuesday, on the eve of a second summit with Donald Trump closely watched for tangible progress over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
After an initial historic meeting in Singapore in June that produced only a vague statement about denuclearisation, analysts say the second date must deliver more concrete steps towards dismantling Pyongyang’s arsenal.
The normally sleepy Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang spruced itself up for Kim’s arrival after the young leader’s 4,000 kilometre, two-and-a-half-day odyssey through China aboard his olive green train.
A military guard of honour in pristine white uniforms presented arms as Kim strolled down the red carpet waving and grinning, surrounded by a phalanx of aides and security personnel.
Local student Nguyen Thu Uyen who handed Kim flowers on his arrival said it was his “most memorable” moment meeting the leader.
“Kim Jong Un is very friendly and especially attractive,” said Uyen of Kim, the first North Korean leader to visit fellow one-party state Vietnam since his grandfather Kim Il Sung in 1964.
Wearing his trademark Mao-style black suit and flanked by his troops of bodyguards, Kim was ushered into a waiting Mercedes-Benz and his motorcade rolled off towards Hanoi, where armoured personnel carriers patrolled the roads amid ultra-tight security.
He was greeted in Hanoi by cheering crowds behind barriers near the colonial-era pastel yellow Hanoi Opera House before arriving at the Melia hotel where he was expected to stay this week.
After a few hours’ rest, he made a 50-minute jaunt to Pyongyang’s embassy before returning to his hotel, echoing the summit in Singapore where he took in the sights on an unscheduled sortie.
Trump was taking a more conventional route on Air Force One to the meeting and was expected to arrive in Hanoi late on Tuesday. He tweeted he was looking forward to a “very productive” second summit.
The US president again dangled the carrot of economic progress for North Korea if it gives up its nuclear programme.
“With complete Denuclearisation, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse,” tweeted Trump. “Without it, just more of the same.”
“Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!”
Relations between the two mercurial leaders have undergone a dramatic turnaround, from flinging personal insults and threats of destruction to Trump declaring he had fallen “in love” with Kim through an exchange of letters.
But many North Korea watchers dismissed the Singapore summit as political theatre that failed to produce a concrete roadmap to denuclearisation and stressed the Hanoi meeting must deliver more.
“The window for diplomatic progress with North Korea will not remain open indefinitely. The
|second summit... must emphasise substance over pageantry,” said Kelsey Davenport from the Arms Control Association.
Concrete details about the summit have been thin but White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One the two leaders would dine together Wednesday along with close advisers.
Diplomatic progress since Singapore has stalled over the definition of denuclearisation, with Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, admitting there was no “shared agreement” of what that means.
The United States has repeatedly demanded the North give up its nuclear arsenal in a final, fully verifiable way.
But Pyongyang sees denuclearisation more broadly, seeking an end to sanctions and what it sees as US threats — usually taken to include the American military presence in the South, and sometimes in the wider region.
In the run-up to the summit, Trump appeared to lower US demands for Pyongyang, repeatedly saying there was no rush to rid the North of its arsenal as long as missile and nuclear tests stopped. — AFP
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