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Vietnam gears up for Trump-Kim summit

Last updated on: February 27, 2019 08:37 IST

United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have arrived in Vietnam and are getting ready for their second meeting in just nine months.

The two leaders, who have a history of insult-hurling and name-calling, plan to discuss nuclear weapons on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi.

 

The meetings are a follow-up to their first summit last June, when they signed a vaguely worded agreement promising to work toward denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Vietnamese guards of honour are seen during preparations ahead of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s arrival, at the border town with China in Dong Dang, Vietnam. Kim took a train from Pyongyang to Vietnam -- a journey that took more than two days and covered about 4,000 km. For those who don't know, Kim's choice of using a train is rather symbolic. It is the same way Kim's grandfather, North Korea's first leader Kim ll-sung, travelled when he went to Vietnam and Eastern Europe. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

A Vietnamese soldier uses a metal detector at a Hilton hotel's terrace ahead of the North Korea-US summit in Hanoi. Other than Trump and Kim, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and America's National Security Adviser John Bolton will also be attending the two-day summit. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

A man walks past a banner depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. Trump will meet Kim for a brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening and then they will have dinner together with their advisers, according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. On Thursday, the leaders will meet for a series of back-and-forth meetings. The Hanoi meeting is expected to build on the groundwork of what was achieved at the Singapore summit last June. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon

A worker is seen on a tree next to a banner showing North Korean and US flags in Hanoi. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Key rings depicting North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump are seen for sale in Hanoi. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

A bartender makes a cocktail to commemorate a US-DPRK summit in Hanoi. Photograph: Mai Nguyen/Reuters

A girl stands next to a woman selling t-shirts depicting North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and Trump ahead of the summit in Hanoi. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters
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