Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist March 2019 | Page 42

HANOI SUMMIT BETWEEN
US AND NORTH KOREA
BY DR. SARIKA DUBEY *
O
n 27 and 28th February, US president Donald Trump
met with North Korean Leader Kim Jong –Un for
a second bilateral summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. The
summit was cut short unexpectedly in the middle of the
second day and ended more than an hour early, and a widely
anticipated joint statement was not signed by the two leaders.
At their fi rst meeting in Singapore, in June 2018 Trump and
Kim signed a joint statement that called for: Transformed
Bilateral Relations, they talked on several issues like the
building of a peaceful regime, complete denuclearization of
the Korean Peninsula, and recovery of US soldiers remains in
the North. Trump also announced that annually held U.S. and
South Korean Military exercise should be suspended for all
2018. But in Hanoi, a joint declaration and a planned working
lunch was scrapped. Trump decided to walk away as evidence
that he will not accept a bad deal. They couldn’t reach at
the level of the agreement because Kim had demanded
total sanctions relief upfront in exchange for only partial
denuclearization, leaving the two sides at an impasse. Trump
was attempting to fi nd guarantee from North Korean leader
Kim Jong - Un that Pyongyang would stop testing its missiles
and nuclear weapons. In return, North Korea demanded the
lifting of all the economic sanctions, and that, ultimately,
become the sticking point in the talks. While It was claimed
by the US that Pyongyang wanted sanctions lifted entirely,
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho expressed in a
late night press conference in Hanoi and clarifi ed his side
only wanted a partial lifting and had off ered a “realistic
proposal”, including the dismantling of the main nuclear
site at Yongbyon.
‘One more’ measure and security concerns
According to North Korean offi cial and reporters, security
has been the prime concern for North Korea in making the
deal. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said the
sanction- dismantling deal was “the biggest denuclearization
step we can take based on the current level of trust between
the two countries. As we take step towards denuclearization,
the most important issue is security but we thought it would
be more burdensome for the US to take Military related
42 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 3 • March 2019, Noida