Washington: US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will hold the second summit February 27 and 28 with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam. The two leaders met in Singapore last year, marking the first bilateral meeting between the two.
Addressing Congress during his annual second State of the Union speech, Trump said progress has been made in his administration’s efforts to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula.
The President said that although much work remains to be done, his relationship with North Korea’s leader is ‘good’.
Trump, however, also gave an ominous warning about the risks of heightened tensions with Pyongyang. “If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,” Trump said.
The lead US negotiator with North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is set to meet with his North Korean counterpart Wednesday in Pyongyang. He said that he hoped the meeting with Kim Hyok Chol would map out ‘a set of concrete deliverables’.
It is not clear in which city the summit will take place. Hanoi, the nation’s capital, and Da Nang, a coastal resort town, have both been floated as possibilities.
PTI
