Why Does Kamala Harris Disrespect Minorities by Imitating their Accents.?

[webfact]

In his grandfather's footsteps, Kim Jong Un due in Vietnam

By James Pearson and Khanh Vu

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on occasion of the 71st anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang, North Korea in this February 8, 2019 KCNA Photo. KCNA via REUTERS

 

HANOI (Reuters) - When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives in Hanoi on Tuesday for his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump later this week, he will be the first leader of the isolated country to visit Vietnam since his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, visited in 1964.

 

Vietnam's model of reform is being widely touted as the economic path for impoverished North Korea to follow as the United States leads efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme and bring it back to the international fold.

 

But Vietnam's transformation has required political change and levels of individual freedoms that would require major reforms for the Kim family, which is afforded godlike status by state propaganda.

 

In imagery that could have powerful propaganda value at home, Kim Jong Un will mimic aspects of his grandfather's trip to Vietnam by travelling to some of the same locations visited by the elder Kim, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning told Reuters.

 

"This is legacy politics," said Christopher Green, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group.

 

"North Korea will want to play up Kim’s succession to the role of his grandfather, who successfully built up North Korea's international legitimacy after the establishment of the state."

 

Even Kim Jong Un's multi-day train journey through North Korea and thousands of kilometres across China to reach Vietnam is similar to the grand train voyages his grandfather once took.

 

His armoured train, complete with carriages decked out with pink leather chairs and big-screen televisions, is expected to reach Vietnam on Tuesday morning.

 

One of the destinations in Kim's itinerary is the coastal northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh, the sources said. The province is home to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site dotted with steep-sided islands which attracted over 12 million tourists last year.

 

Kim Il Sung visited Ha Long Bay in 1964 during his second visit to Vietnam.

 

RED CARPET, RED RIVER

Kim's train is expected to stop at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang, where he will disembark and travel the 170 km (105 miles) to Hanoi by car.

 

Top Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red-carpet including a guard of honour and North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying.

 

Kim's close aide, Kim Chang Son, who has been in Hanoi for several days preparing for the summit, was spotted at the station before Kim's arrival.

Over the weekend, Vietnam announced that it will ban traffic on the road from the station to Hanoi on Tuesday.

 

Kim Jong Un may be looking to learn from Vietnam's experience of manufacturing products for international companies, meaning a visit to a factory could also be on the cards.

 

A source with direct knowledge of the plan said a high level North Korean delegation is scheduled to visit a plant operated by start-up Vietnamese automaker Vinfast in Haiphong province on Wednesday afternoon.

 

The plan is subject to change, the source said.

 

South Korea's Samsung Electronics operates a massive smartphone factory in Bac Ninh, another province popular with Vietnamese and international manufacturers.

 

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said Samsung Electronics had not been informed of any visit by Kim, or instructed by Vietnamese authorities to host him.

 

In Hanoi, North Korean and U.S. flags could be seen on along a main thoroughfare and bridge crossing the Red River into the city.

 

Trump and Kim are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi's Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city centre, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters.

 

Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside the Metropole.

 

Trump will arrive in Vietnam on Tuesday evening, Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Monday. Trump will meet Vietnam's president, who is also general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, on Wednesday morning, the ministry said.

 

Trump on Monday appeared to play down any hope of a major breakthrough at the two day summit, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing.

 

(Reporting by James Pearson and Khanh Vu; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-26

[webfact]

North Korea's Kim arrives in Vietnam for summit; Trump on his way

By Khanh Vu and Jeff Mason

 

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un waves as he arrives at the Dong Dang railway station, Vietnam, at the border with China, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

HANOI/ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump where they will try to reach an agreement on a North's Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

 

Trump is due to arrive in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Tuesday evening.

 

Trump will meet Kim for a brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One.

 

She said that would be followed by more meetings between the two leaders on Thursday.

 

Their talks come eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

 

While there is no real expectation that the second meeting will bring a final deal on ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons that threaten the United States, there are some hopes it could lead to a declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War is at last formally over.

 

But the United States would expect significant movement by Kim towards denuclearisation in return.

 

In Singapore, Kim pledged to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but the vague agreement struck there has produced few concrete results. U.S. Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

 

Kim, who travelled from the North Korean capital by train, arrived at the station in the Vietnamese town of Dong Dang after crossing over the border from China.

 

Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red-carpet including a guard of honour and North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying.

 

Kim was seen leaving the train in Dong Dang and getting into a Mercedes Benz vehicle for the 170 km (105 miles) journey to the capital, Hanoi, by car.

 

He waved from the car before setting off to young people lining the street waving Vietnamese and North Korean flags.

About a dozen body guards ran along side his car as he set off.

 

Both Kim and Trump are also due to hold separate talks with Vietnamese leaders.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also arrived in Hanoi, on Tuesday, a reporter travelling with him said.

 

Pompeo has been Trump's top envoy in his efforts to improve ties with the reclusive North and has made several trips to Pyongyang to negotiate steps towards ending its nuclear programme.

 

'TREMENDOUS'

Trump told reporters he and Kim would have "a very tremendous summit".

 

Tweeting on Monday, he stressed the benefits to North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons. "With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse. Without it, just more of the same. Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!" Trump said.

 

In a speech on Sunday night, Trump, however, appeared to play down any hope of a major breakthrough at the Hanoi summit, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing.

 

"I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody," he said. "I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy."

 

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in September 2017 and last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

 

A South Korean presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul on Monday that the two sides might be able to agree to a formal end of the Korean War, which ended in an armistice not a peace treaty, a move North Korea has long sought.

 

While a formal peace treaty may be a long way off, the two sides have discussed the possibility of a political declaration stating that the war over.

 

"The possibility is there," the South Korean spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom told a briefing.

 

(For live coverage of the summit, click: https://www.reuters.com/live/north-korea); Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-26

[Puchaiyank]

At least Kim and Trump are willing to explore options to avoid a nuclear confrontation...

 

They may have both concluded that he who lives by nuclear war...dies.

[Cryingdick]

1 minute ago, Puchaiyank said:

At least Kim and Trump are willing to explore options to avoid a nuclear confrontation...

 

They may have both concluded that he who lives by nuclear war...dies.

 

NK can't launch anything that would put the USA in jeopardy of extinction the USA can do it to NK that's the distinction. 

 

Trump is actually right here and taking the high ground. NK threatens nothing more than a few people in Guam. The world goes on with out Guam.

[Pilotman]

Just now, Puchaiyank said:

At least Kim and Trump are willing to explore options to avoid a nuclear confrontation...

 

They may have both concluded that he who lives by nuclear war...dies.

I doubt that it would be much of a war. I have never taken the threat of war in that region, at least a nuclear one,  to be in any way serious.  As I understand it, NK has yet to perfect a warhead that will not disintegrate on reentry and in any event, they can't be accurately targeted.  While the US, well, they have a few missiles and bombs that actually work.   Kim is just facing reality.  Trump on the other hand is a ego maniac who just wants to be seen as having 'solved the NK problem' . I think isolating Kim was just as effective as talking to the man. 

[PREM-R]

2 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

NK can't launch anything that would put the USA in jeopardy of extinction the USA can do it to NK that's the distinction. 

 

Trump is actually right here and taking the high ground. NK threatens nothing more than a few people in Guam. The world goes on with out Guam.

But if the US makes NK 'extinct' wouldn't that have dire effects on China, South Korea and Japan...... or would the nuclear fallout respect borders?

[Cryingdick]

5 minutes ago, PREM-R said:

But if the US makes NK 'extinct' wouldn't that have dire effects on China, South Korea and Japan...... or would the nuclear fallout respect borders?

The USA won't strike first. If NK does the response will be justified. NK doesn't have a big hand to play here. As long as they don't test they can enjoy obscurity.

[Tug]

It doesent matter who strikes first the deaths will be in the millions the economic repercussions will be felt for decades if not longer all Donald has accomplished is giving n Korea Statius on the world stage Donald has given away all our cards for nothing the Koreans are in a much much stronger position now than before donald gave them Statius 

[ballpoint]

The art of poker playing, by D. Trump.

Lend the other guy some money so he can play you.

Lose all your money to him.

Get back what you loaned him.

Lose that too.

Declare it a huge success.

Wait 8 months and call for a rematch.

Lend the other guy some money so he can play you.

...

[canopus1969]

Nice to see he's had a haircut   ????

[sammieuk1]

Looks like he is ready for a hotdog a whole one with a waggle tail ????

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

Nice to see he's had a haircut   ????

Which one?

How come his train didn't deliver him to Hanoi?

[Redline]

The meeting of two self centered pathological liers 

[mike324]

Kim Jong Un is winning on so many fronts, he is seen as a dictator and mass murderer who can stand shoulder to should with one of the most powerful man on the world - US president. He has red carpets rolled out everywhere he goes, the fact that he is starting to travel to more countries which are welcoming him with a an open arm is giving him an ego boost.

 

Do people honestly think something will be accomplish with the 2nd meeting? Nothing came to fruition during the 1st meeting, Kim is just playing the world. His bargaining chip is his nuclear weapons, if he gives it up, he has nothing to bargain with. Habits are hard to change, I can't imagine NK opening up to the world, he would be overthrown by his own people.

[JAG]

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Which one?

How come his train didn't deliver him to Hanoi?

 

11 minutes ago, car720 said:

Most probably different guage.

Trainspotter mode on.

 

China ( and North Korea) are standard gauge (4'81/2" or 1.435 mm), Vietnam, like the rest of S E Asia, is metre gauge. This means that the last part of the trip would be jolly bumpy and uncomfortable, and it would be difficult for the tonsorially challenged little fat man to look suitably "soigne" when disembarking.

 

Trainspotter mode off.

[heybruce]

15 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

NK can't launch anything that would put the USA in jeopardy of extinction the USA can do it to NK that's the distinction. 

 

Trump is actually right here and taking the high ground. NK threatens nothing more than a few people in Guam. The world goes on with out Guam.

Are you aware that South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and many other countries are much closer to North Korea than Guam?

[heybruce]

9 hours ago, mike324 said:

Kim Jong Un is winning on so many fronts, he is seen as a dictator and mass murderer who can stand shoulder to should with one of the most powerful man on the world - US president. He has red carpets rolled out everywhere he goes, the fact that he is starting to travel to more countries which are welcoming him with a an open arm is giving him an ego boost.

 

Do people honestly think something will be accomplish with the 2nd meeting? Nothing came to fruition during the 1st meeting, Kim is just playing the world. His bargaining chip is his nuclear weapons, if he gives it up, he has nothing to bargain with. Habits are hard to change, I can't imagine NK opening up to the world, he would be overthrown by his own people.

Of course something will happen at the summit; Trump will be played like a fiddle.  Trump thinks he can get a Nobel Peace Prize, I fully expect him to throw regional allies under the bus in exchange for vague promises that will not be kept.

[ballpoint]

16 hours ago, JAG said:

 

Trainspotter mode on.

 

China ( and North Korea) are standard gauge (4'81/2" or 1.435 mm), Vietnam, like the rest of S E Asia, is metre gauge. This means that the last part of the trip would be jolly bumpy and uncomfortable, and it would be difficult for the tonsorially challenged little fat man to look suitably "soigne" when disembarking.

 

Trainspotter mode off.

Even bigger nerd alert:

 

Vietnam has standard gauge tracks from the Chinese border to Gia Lam station, about 20 minutes from central Hanoi.  The tracks from it to the main Hanoi station, and everywhere else in Vietnam are, as you say, metre gauge.  I guess it wasn't worth changing the train engine to a Vietnamese one at Dang Dong, travelling to Gia Lam and then getting in a car for the final bit.  Better to just get in the car at the border.

[JAG]

1 hour ago, ballpoint said:

Even bigger nerd alert:

 

Vietnam has standard gauge tracks from the Chinese border to Gia Lam station, about 20 minutes from central Hanoi.  The tracks from it to the main Hanoi station, and everywhere else in Vietniam are, as you say, metre gauge.  I guess it wasn't worth changing the train engine to a Vietnamese one at Dang Dong, travelling to Gia Lam and then getting in a car for the final bit.  Better to just get in the car at the border.

I didn't know that - I assumed that it was metre gauge throughout Vietnam, although I suppose it makes sense. Thank you.

 

[ballpoint]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 12:07 PM, canopus1969 said:

Nice to see he's had a haircut   ????

Which is quite a risky business in North Korea.  His uncle went in and asked for a bit to be taken off the top, and they obliged him.

[Scott]

Troll post removed.   You can cease with nonsensical memes.  

[tifino]

I am wondering how they managed to find a 5 star hotel room in Vietnam, that doesn't have a toilet! 

[heybruce]

On 2/26/2019 at 6:48 PM, car720 said:

I think Japan just nominated him in this mornings news. 

I'm not sure if PM Shinzo Abe was pressured to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, or just figured it would be a good way to appeal to Trump's notorious ego.  Japan is one of the regional allies that could get thrown under the bus.  The PM may withdraw his nomination if that happens.

Edited February 28, 2019 by heybruce