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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 27 February 2019

Trump, Kim facing big issues after big welcome in Hanoi

By FOSTER KLUG a timeline for disarmament.
JONATHAN LEMIRE Kim is seeking relief from
Associated Press crushing U.S. sanctions.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Even as he tamped down
After long journeys to Viet- expectations that he'll
nam, U.S. President Donald achieve big strides toward
Trump and North Korean denuclearization, Trump
leader Kim Jong Un are was still eager to claim an
in place for their second attention-grabbing victory
summit to address perhaps to offset the political turmoil
the world's biggest secu- he faces at home.
rity challenge: Kim's pursuit That eagerness for a victo-
of a nuclear program that ry, however, has spawned
stands on the verge of real- worries across world capi-
istically threatening targets tals about what Trump
around the planet. might be willing to give up
Although many experts in the name of a win. There
are skeptical Kim will give seems less mystery about
up the nuclear weapons his North Korean counter-
he likely sees as his best part. Survival of the Kim re-
guarantee of continued gime is always the primary
rule, there was a palpable, concern. Trump was the
carnival-like excitement driving force behind this
among many in Hanoi as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves upon arrival by train in Dong Dang in Vietnamese border week's summit, aiming to
the final preparations were town Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, ahead of his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. re-create the global spec-
made for the meeting. Associated Press tacle of his first meeting
There were also huge traf- with Kim last year.Four main
fic jams in the already con- and then traveled from a but I think he is very power- Washington: "We want de- goals emerged from the
gested streets. Vietnamese border town in ful." nuclearization, and I think first Trump-Kim summit: es-
The two leaders are to his limousine. Hours ahead Kim ventured out of his he'll have a country that tablishing new relations be-
meet over two days, first of his border crossing at locked-down hotel and will set a lot of records for tween the nations, building
at dinner on Wednesday Dong Dang, footage from spent Tuesday traveling speed in terms of an econ- a new peace on the entire
followed by meetings on Japanese TV network TBS around the Vietnamese omy." Korean Peninsula, complet-
Thursday. showed Kim taking a pre- capital in his armored lim- Trump has praised Pyong- ing denuclearization of the
Trump arrived late Tues- dawn smoke break at a ousine. With a squad of yang for ceasing missile peninsula and recovering
day in Air Force One after train station in China, a bodyguards in tow, he tests, and he has appeared U.S. POW/MIA remains from
a flight that included refu- woman who appeared to visited sections of Hanoi, to ease up on demanding the Korean War.q
eling stops in England and be his sister, Kim Yo Jong, including his nation's em-
Qatar. He shook hands with holding a crystal ashtray at bassy where a loud cheer
dignitaries on a red car- the ready. went up as he entered the
pet that was flanked by In Hanoi, soldiers, police compound.
members of the Vietnam- and international journalists The leaders first met last
ese armed forces dressed thronged the streets out- June in Singapore, a sum-
in crisp white uniforms. The side his hotel and hundreds mit that was long on historic
route to his hotel was deco- of eager citizens stood be- pageantry but short on any
rated with American, North hind barricades hoping to enforceable agreements
Korean and Vietnamese see the North Korean lead- for North Korea to give up
flags, and adults and chil- er. As flags from the three its nuclear arsenal.
dren peered out upper countries fluttered in a chilly North Korea has spent de-
floor windows holding up drizzle, dozens of cameras cades, at great economic
cellphones to capture flashed and some citizens sacrifice, building its nu-
Trump's arrival. screamed and used their clear program, and there
"Tremendous crowds, and mobile phones to capture is widespread skepticism
so much love!" the U.S. Kim's rock-star-like arrival. among experts that it will
president tweeted. "I like him," local resident give away that program
Kim's journey to the sum- Van Dang Luu, who works cheaply.
mit, though shorter, was at a nearby bank, said of Trump laid out ultimate
even more protracted. Kim. "He is very young and goals for both the U.S. and
To get to Hanoi, he took he is very interesting. And Kim in an appearance be-
a nearly 70-hour train ride he is very powerful," she fore the nation's governors
through southern China said. "Trump is not young, Monday before leaving