2019 USA-DPRK Hanoi Summit

On Thursday, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un will meet in Vietnam, Hanoi, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore in June. In their first conference, the two leaders pledged to work together towards creating a strong diplomatic tie, as well as the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. However, not much progress has been made since then. To speed up the process, the two leaders will be rediscussing the denuclearization of Korea, the guarantee of security, as well as the US-led sanctions currently placed on North Korea in the upcoming 2019 Hanoi conference.

Along with the topics that will be addressed in this summit, Kim’s decision to use a train as his main transport method has aroused the curiosity of the media. Kim Jong-un will be traveling by his train to Vietnam, which will take at least 2 days to reach the destination. When visiting China or Russia, Kim has always traveled through his train mainly for safety reasons. Kim’s train is not only bulletproof but also travels at a very high speed, adding an extra layer of protection. Analysts also estimate that Kim is trying to emulate his grandfather’s style as a powerful dictator, as both his father and grandfather frequently used the train as the main transport method when traveling to nearby countries.

Both countries agreed on selecting Vietnam as the location for the upcoming conference due to several reasons. Vietnam has maintained strong diplomatic relations with both North Korea and the U.S, making it a politically neutral and secure location. Also, Vietnam provides a model North Korea could emulate. For a communist country, Vietnam has adopted the free-market system, which bolstered Vietnam’s economy. Some analysts suggest that the U.S has chosen Vietnam as the next summit location in order to bring North Korea into its sphere of influence amid Washington’s ongoing trade war with China (Time).

Although it is unclear what agreements will be made in this conference, many people are expecting positive results, hoping that the upcoming conference will be an important steppingstone towards the denuclearization of North Korea.