NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SUMMIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “If there is anyone keeping his fingers crossed for President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, to agree on how to denuclearize the North when they meet in Vietnam this month, it is President Moon Jae-in of South Korea. With no quick fix available for South Korea’s stubborn economic troubles, Mr. Moon’s best chance for reversing his falling approval ratings rests on whether he can jump-start his signature policy of helping advance the North’s denuclearization and improving inter-Korean ties. But that depends on Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim’s striking a denuclearization deal when they meet Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, that is significant enough for Washington and the United Nations to ease sanctions and create room for Mr. Moon to push his ambitious plans for economic cooperation with North Korea.”
–Choe Sang-Hun, “South Korea Awaits 2nd Kim-Trump Summit With Both Hope and Fear,” The New York Times online, February 22, 2019