It was their first public meeting of this second summit. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sat in two modest, cushioned wood framed chairs in a banquet room at the Metropole, the French-colonial hotel, in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The two men sat on either side of a small wooden table on which a small vase of colorful roses sat. The flags of both nations, carefully draped nearby, outlined the backdrop.
But the red, white and blue patterns of each were as starkly different from each other as the men’s denuclearization paths, which resulted in an abrupt ending to the meeting.
Watching the televised remarks of the two and carefully observing their body language, it seemed something was amiss.
Kim said:
“It’s exactly 261 days since we met in Singapore. I truly believe that this successful and great meeting that we’re having today is thanks to your courageous decision — political decision that your team, Mr. President, reached. So, during that 261 days since we last met, there have been some misunderstandings … I actually believe that those 261 days were the days which were — and during which — a lot of painstaking efforts were necessary and also a lot of patience were needed. But, here we are today, sitting next to each other, and that gives us a hope that we will be successful with time. And I will really try to make that happen.”
During his remarks, which lasted about two minutes, Kim looked at Trump twice, for less than 10 seconds total, in a sheepish, somewhat awkward, manner. The rest of the time while speaking, he looked at the floor, he looked at the ceiling, and around the room, but not at Trump.
Was he nervous, unsure of himself? Or, was he trying to disarm the president?
When Trump began speaking, Kim’s posture changed. He shifted back in his chair, folded his hands in his lap and seemed to be listening intently, but rarely looked at Trump.
“We had a very successful first summit,” Trump said. “I felt it was very successful, and some people would like to see it go quicker. I’m satisfied; you’re satisfied. We want to be happy with what we’re doing. But I thought the first summit was a great success. And I think this one, hopefully, will be equal or greater than the first. And we made a lot progress, and I think the biggest progress was our relationship is really a good one.”
In a telling moment, Kim, who likely understands English very well, chuckled when the translator repeated Trump’s comments about their relationship.
And when Trump later said, “I think that your country has tremendous economic potential. Unbelievable. Unlimited,” Kim chuckled again. This time, it was almost like a dismissive gesture.
It goes without saying that Kim lacks experience on a stage of this size, with someone like Trump, but even longtime North Korea experts were astonished with the outcome of the summit.
“I was surprised and disappointed,” said Joe Detrani, former U.S. special envoy for the Six-Party Talks with North Korea.
“Obviously, Kim Jong Un wasn’t prepared to sign up to complete verifiable, irreversible dismantlement of his nuclear weapons. He wanted to give us Yongbyon, but there’s more than Yongbyon.”
Yongbyon is North Korea’s main nuclear reactor and a significant part of its nuclear weapons program, but not enough to have all of the sanctions lifted at once, without agreeing to complete verifiable, irreversible dismantlement.
“The president was correct in walking away from the table,” Detrani said.
A source familiar with U.S./North Korea negotiations said, “I was surprised because [the U.S. government] should have known this before having the president travel to Hanoi and discover that North Korea wasn’t prepared to completely denuclearize, at least not now.”
Richard Johnson, senior director for fuel cycle and verification at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said, “Obviously, it would have been nice to get a joint statement, but it appears there was a substantive disconnect between the two sides.”
But Johnson saw something positive in the breakdown of the summit.
“If there is a silver lining to this, it appears the U.S. wants to continue working-level talks between (Steve) Biegun and Kim Hyok Chol. If the two leaders can empower those envoys and let them start hashing out details, it could be a sign that we are returning to regular diplomatic order.”
If there is a third meeting, which is being discussed, the central question that must be addressed, all of the experts WTOP spoke to say is the initial one: Is North Korea really willing to give up its nuclear weapons?
Kim’s move at this summit didn’t suggest that he was ready for that.
