Trump no longer insisting on quick denuclearization before North Korea summit
Hanoi, Vietnam — The stage is set for the second high-stakes summit between President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. The North Koreans have missiles and a nuclear weapons program that potentially could threaten the U.S., and convincing them to abandon those is at the heart of this meeting.
After an elaborate sendoff in Pyongyang, Kim rode his dark green — and very slow — armored train for more than 50 hours through China to reach the Vietnamese border. He apparently wasn't in a hurry and neither, it seems, is Mr. Trump.
Before departing for Hanoi, the president said he's no longer insisting that North Korea quickly denuclearize.
"I think we will have a tremendous summit. We want denuclearization," Mr. Trump said.
North Korea hasn't tested any weapons for more than a year. But there is clear evidence the regime is still producing nuclear fuel and working on its weapons program.
The first summit in Singapore ended with a vague commitment to work towards denuclearization. Despite Mr. Trump tweeting that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat, the regime has yet to give up a single weapon or even disclose how many it has. On Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seemed to contradict the president.
"They have the capability of detonating a nuclear device," said Chun In-Bum, a former lieutenant general of the South Korean army.
He said he has not seen North Korea take steps to denuclearize over the past eight months.
"But there is a saying in Korea that you cannot have a full belly with the first spoon of rice, so I think the first summit was the start of a long process that we will have to go through," he said.