Hanoi: In a major setback to Donald Trump, the summit between the US President and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Vietnam came to an abrupt end on Thursday without any agreement over denuclearisation plans in North Korea.
In a press conference, Trump said that Kim offered to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facility only if the punishing sanctions were lifted from Pyongyang completely which were imposed by the US. He further said the talks broke down because of this. The White House aides also stressed that Trump stood strong during the negotiations.
Speaking about this, N Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters that US wasted an opportunity and that another chance may not be given. They wouldn’t change their stance even if the United States offers to resume another round of dialogue. The country was ready to offer in writing a permanent halt of the country’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, he added. He also contradicted Trump’s statement, saying N Korea had asked only some of the sanctions to be lifted.
Media reports also suggested that Kim wouldn’t be willing to give away the weapons his nation had spent decades developing and Pyongyang felt ensured its survival. And there has been a longstanding US policy, which insisted that US sanctions on North Korea would not be lifted until that country committed to, if not concluded, complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.
Trump, however, insisted his relations with Kim remained warm, but he did not commit to having a third summit with the North Korean leader, saying a possible next meeting “may not be for a long time.”
Significant progress had been made in Hanoi Summit, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Kim appeared willing to close his country’s main nuclear facility, if the sanctions were lifted completely. However, missiles, warheads and weapon systems would be left with him. There are also suspected hidden nuclear fuel production sites around the country. “We couldn’t quite get there today,” added Cohen.
Already in the face of domestic turmoil in US soil, the breakdown has come as a major blow to Trump. His former personal lawyer Michael Cohen called him a ‘racist’ and ‘con man’ and claimed prior knowledge that WikiLeaks would release emails that would damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.