Donald Trump Touts Plans For A Second North Korean Summit On Twitter
President Donald Trump made some waves when he stated during his presidential campaign and during the early days after he was sworn into office that he would be pleased to speak to North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. In June, 2018, despite months of the two powers taunting one another over Twitter with threats of nuclear destruction, the American president met with Kim in Singapore.
Following what he viewed as an incredibly successful summit with Kim promising to denuclearize the country, Trump has now organized another one for the end of February.
The president took to Twitter to confirm the date and place of the summit, according to the Hill.
“My representatives have just left North Korea after a very productive meeting and an agreed upon time and date for the second Summit with Kim Jong Un. It will take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27 & 28. I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim & advancing the cause of peace!” he wrote.
In a second tweet, he also shared his vision for the future of North Korea.
“North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, will become a great Economic Powerhouse. He may surprise some but he won’t surprise me, because I have gotten to know him & fully understand how capable he is.”
JUST IN: Trump says his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un will be held in Hanoi pic.twitter.com/yYL5N07Rgg
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 9, 2019
Trump first spoke about a second meeting with Kim during the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, saying the plan was to hold the summit on February 27 and 28. Previous speculation was that the meeting would take place in Da Nang, not Hanoi.
Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, has been in Pyongyang organizing the second summit for the past few days. Biegun had made arrangements prior to his travel with his Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol for the meeting.
The representatives’ meeting consisted of them discussing the goal of Trump’s second summit, which will aim at completely denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and improving relations between the U.S. and North Korea.
No indication has been given on how close they are to achieving that goal, or whether the summit will serve to force that action. Despite the 2018 summit and Trump stating that Kim had agreed to denuclearize, there appears to have been no sign of it in the past eight months.
The U.S. president has been steadfast in his desire to make friends with North Korea, repeatedly touting the economic benefits for the Asian country if they decide to play nice.
