2/8/2019

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SUMMIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump will get together with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, this month in Hanoi, choosing the capital of a communist nation for a high-stakes summit meeting intended to eliminate a potential nuclear threat, the White House said on Friday [2-8-19]…Mr. Trump revealed in his State of the Union address this week that the meeting would be in Vietnam but did not disclose the city. The United States had explored Danang, a coastal city where American troops arrived in 1965 for a war that would scar a generation, but the North Koreans were reported to prefer Hanoi. Mr. Trump and his aides have cited Vietnam as an example of a communist nation that emerged from international isolation to develop a dynamic economy. Mr. Trump has sought to persuade Mr. Kim that giving up his nuclear weapons would enable him to transform his impoverished land into a thriving country.”

Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker, “Trump and Kim Jong-un to Hold Second Summit Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam,” The New York Times online, February 8, 2019