As the big round two of the Trump-Kim summit nears, the US president said that he looks to an “awesome” future for North Korea, provided all the nukes are given up by his 'friend' Kim Jong-un. Trump met with Vietnamese leaders at Hanoi before he proceeded to meet his counterpart from North Korea. He also attended a signing ceremony for commercial business deals.
Kim and Trump will meet over dinner on Wednesday. Trump's tweet mentioning his friend and the awesome future he sees was in capital letters for emphasis like he usually does. However, a former North Korean diplomat has said that Kim is unlikely to give up nuclear arms entirely.
The stakes are definitely high in this second meeting between the two world leaders, especially how their relationship has taken a U-turn of sorts considering how the two leaders were name-calling over Twitter.
A major reason according to experts as to why Kim may not be willing to completely denuclearise is that he is currently in his early thirties and seeks to lead the nation for decades and for this reason, he needs to fortify his leadership even if he seeks peace with other big powers.
Trump and Kim are due to meet for one-on-one talks, then dinner, in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, followed by more talks Thursday.
Trump also lashed out at his domestic opponents for their criticism of his engagement with the isolated regime.
"The Democrats should stop talking about what I should do with North Korea and ask themselves instead why they didn't do 'it' during eight years of the Obama administration?" said Trump, referring to his predecessor in the White House.
The two days of talks aim to put some flesh on the bones of a vague declaration issued after their first historic meeting in June in Singapore.
Trump has appeared to lower US expectations for the summit, saying that he would be happy if Pyongyang's pause in nuclear and missile testing continued.
The president is believed to be considering dangling relief from tough international sanctions.
Opening of diplomatic liaison offices is another possible US concession.
In return, Washington hopes to get Kim to dismantle the key nuclear facility at Yongbyon, allow in international inspectors, or even hand over a full list of all the country's nuclear assets—something the North Koreans have categorically refused to do.
