Is this legal? No farangs welcome...

[snoop1130]

Trump and North Korea's Kim shake hands to kick off second summit

by Soyoung Kim, Jeff Mason

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose before their meeting during the second U.S.-North Korea summit at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

HANOI (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump met in Hanoi on Wednesday for their second summit, with the U.S. president rejecting any suggestion he was walking back on U.S. demands for North Korea’s denuclearization.

 

Kim and Trump shook hands and smiled briefly in front of a row of their countries’ flags at the Metropole hotel in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

 

Trump told reporters he thought the talks would be very successful, and asked if he was “walking back” on denuclearization, said “no”.

 

At their historic first summit in Singapore last June, Trump and Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula. North and South Korea have been technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict, with the Americans backing the South, ended in a truce, not a treaty.

 

Asked if he would declare a formal end to the Korean War, which North Korea has long called for, Trump said: “We’ll see.”

 

In the run-up to this summit, Trump has indicated a more flexible stance, saying he was in no rush to secure North Korea’s denuclearization. He repeated that on Wednesday, saying while some people believed the talks should be moving more quickly, he was satisfied.

 

Trump has held out the prospect of easing sanctions if North Korea does something “meaningful”.

 

But some critics have said he appeared to be wavering on a long-standing U.S. demand for complete and irreversible denuclearization by North Korea, and risked squandering leverage if he gave away too much in the talks too quickly.

 

Kim said they had overcome obstacles to hold their summit.

 

“Now that we’re meeting here again like this, I’m confident that there will be an excellent outcome that everyone welcomes, and I’ll do my best to make it happen,” Kim said.

 

Trump and Kim are scheduled to hold a 20-minute, one-on-one chat followed by a dinner with aides.

 

Trump will be accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Kim will be joined by his top envoy, Kim Yong Chol, and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.

 

On Thursday, the two leaders will hold “a series of back and forth” meetings, the White House said. The venue has not been announced.

 

Despite little progress on his goal of ridding North Korea of its weapons programmes, Trump appeared to be betting on his personal relationship with North Korea’s young leader, and the economic incentive after 70 years of hostility between their countries.

 

“Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize,” Trump said on Twitter ahead of the meeting.

 

“The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon - Very Interesting!”

 

GOOD RELATIONS

 

Trump said late last year he and Kim “fell in love”, and on the eve of his departure for the second summit said they had developed “a very, very good relationship”.

 

Whether the bonhomie can move them beyond summit pageantry to substantive progress on eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States is the question that will dominate the talks.

 

Trump and Kim’s Singapore summit, the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, ended with great fanfare but little substance over how to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

 

U.S. intelligence officials have said there is no sign North Korea will ever give up its entire arsenal of nuclear weapons, which it sees as its guarantee of national security. Analysts say it won’t commit to significant disarmament unless punishing U.S.-led economic sanctions are eased.

 

The two sides have discussed specific and verifiable denuclearization measures, such as allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor, U.S. and South Korean officials say.

 

U.S. concessions could include opening liaison offices, ending the war or clearing the way for inter-Korean projects.

 

Any deal will face scrutiny from American lawmakers and other skeptics who doubt North Korea is willing to give up the weapons.

 

For Trump, a deal that eases the North Korean threat could hand him a big foreign-policy achievement in the midst of domestic troubles.

 

While he is in Hanoi, his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen is testifying before U.S. congressional committees, with the president’s business practices the main focus.

 

Cohen, in wide-ranging testimony he is due to deliver on Wednesday, refers to a comment Trump made to him about avoiding the U.S. military draft for the Vietnam War on medical grounds: “‘You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam’,” Cohen cited Trump as saying.

 

“I find it ironic, President Trump, that you are in Vietnam right now,” Cohen said in a draft statement seen by Reuters.

 

Trump, responding to the statement on Twitter, said Cohen was lying to reduce his prison time. He declined to respond when a reporter asked him about Cohen later.

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-27

[Tug]

Oh boy here we go!

[Damrongsak]

Why don't they go out together and get decent haircuts? 

[pegman]

Great match, these 2. They certainly deserve each other. Couple of clowns. Says a lot about their respective countries. 

[Damrongsak]

4 hours ago, pegman said:

Great match, these 2. They certainly deserve each other. Couple of clowns. Says a lot about their respective countries. 

Here in the USA, we used to have some great statesmen.  Bozo and Ronald McDonald.  "The origin of Ronald McDonald involves Willard Scott (at the time, a local radio personality who also played Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1959 until 1962), who performed using the moniker "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" in 1963 on three separate television spots. These were the first three television ads featuring the character." 

 

The world deserves better leaders.  Or at least more trendy haircuts.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2019 by Damrongsak

[keemapoot]

As Cohen confirms Trump's bogus Vietnam war draft dodging, Trump, in response, while in Vietnam, is using his usual techniques of diversion by attacking an actual veteran, similar to how he attacked John McCain, war hero.

 

Quote

"I have now spent more time in Vietnam than Da Nang Dick Blumenthal, the third rate Senator from Connecticut (how is Connecticut doing?)," Trump boasted on Twitter after spending the morning in meetings with officials from the Vietnamese government.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/27/politics/donald-trump-vietnam-michael-cohen-richard-blumenthal/index.html

[Tug]

Did they elope yet?lol

[Srikcir]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Trump will be accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Kim will be joined by his top envoy, Kim Yong Chol, and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho

Not present but coincidentally in Vietnam during the summit meeting is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Recall this meeting in the White House in 2017:

Lavrov, who is also visiting Vietnam this week, said in comments carried by Russian news agencies on Monday that Russia believes that the U.S. ought to offer Pyongyang “security guarantees” for the disarmament deal to succeed. He also mentioned that “the U.S. is even asking our advice, our views on this or that scenario of” how the summit in Hanoi could pan out.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/russia-says-its-helping-guide-us-north-korea-talks

Putin Foreign Minister Lavrov in Vietnam ahead of Trump-Kim summit

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putin-foreign-minister-lavrov-in-vietnam-ahead-of-trump-kim-summit-2019-02-26

Smart to have his most trusted advisor nearby.

[riclag]

3 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Here in the USA, we used to have some great statesmen.  Bozo and Ronald McDonald.  "The origin of Ronald McDonald involves Willard Scott (at the time, a local radio personality who also played Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1959 until 1962), who performed using the moniker "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" in 1963 on three separate television spots. These were the first three television ads featuring the character." 

 

The world deserves better leaders.  Or at least more trendy haircuts.

 

 

 

 

We need more of the same that put the world in this position,right! The  so called best politicians in the  history of the world  have given rise to the threat of nuclear destruction,just by their proliferation and the acceptance   of it.

Now the lefts and rights creation, their clown, a billionaire from Queen's,NY, wants to change that! MAGA!

 

Edited February 28, 2019 by riclag

[pegman]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Not present but coincidentally in Vietnam during the summit meeting is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Recall this meeting in the White House in 2017:

Lavrov, who is also visiting Vietnam this week, said in comments carried by Russian news agencies on Monday that Russia believes that the U.S. ought to offer Pyongyang “security guarantees” for the disarmament deal to succeed. He also mentioned that “the U.S. is even asking our advice, our views on this or that scenario of” how the summit in Hanoi could pan out.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/russia-says-its-helping-guide-us-north-korea-talks

Putin Foreign Minister Lavrov in Vietnam ahead of Trump-Kim summit

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putin-foreign-minister-lavrov-in-vietnam-ahead-of-trump-kim-summit-2019-02-26

Smart to have his most trusted advisor nearby.

Lavrov was giving "orders" and "instructions" to Trump rather than "advice" but close enough not to split hairs.

[Srikcir]

• President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, cut short their second day of meetings in Hanoi, Vietnam.
• The White House said no agreement was reached.
• Mr. Kim said his presence at the talks indicated a willingness to denuclearize — in principle. And the White House said talks would continue in the future.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/world/asia/trump-kim-jong-un-summit.html

• The two leaders departed the Metropole Hotel ... without participating in a working lunch and joint agreement signing ceremony that had been originally listed on the schedule.
• Aside from the signing ceremony, a planned lunch between the two leaders did not go forward.
• the two men discussed the prospect of opening a US office in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital ... Yet afterward, it appeared the chances for that -- along with any other concessions or agreements -- were dashed

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/27/politics/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-vietnam-summit/index.html

 

As Trump has insisted on being the lead in negotiations with North Korea, I believe that South Korea (who has been reminded several times by the Trump administration not to make any unilateral agreement with North Korea - even threatening sanctions against South Korea!) has to be stunned by the lack of ANY agreement, especially with an agreement to formally end the Korean War.

As a result, South Korea may take some initiative to advance its own relationship with North Korea.

[Basil B]

Well at least there is one world leader on the same level as Americas great leader willing to talk about a reduction in nuclear arms, when one party is one of the worlds leading nuclear powers, and the other is still trying to work out how to light the blue touchpaper... me thing Donny is going to giveaway the family jewels in return for nothing.

[samran]

Great to see his bonespurs have healed so well and he has finally made it to Vietnam.

[dunroaming]

And the result of the meetings..... Complete failure as expected.

[Stargeezr]

Wonderful. Kim and Donald are both out of their countries, the masses are happy, happy!

Geezer

[joecoolfrog]

Another win !

[quandow]

I watch Faux Noise on occasion (know your enemy). Yesterday there was a YUGE absence of any mention of Cohen's testimony, and even they had to admit it was a failure of a meeting, particularly because it was a spur of the moment thought by Trump and no planning went into it. Could it have been scheduled to try and take the focus off Cohen's testimony? If so, it sure backfired on THEM!!!

[lannarebirth]

12 hours ago, Srikcir said:

•  

As Trump has insisted on being the lead in negotiations with North Korea, I believe that South Korea (who has been reminded several times by the Trump administration not to make any unilateral agreement with North Korea - even threatening sanctions against South Korea!) has to be stunned by the lack of ANY agreement, especially with an agreement to formally end the Korean War.

As a result, South Korea may take some initiative to advance its own relationship with North Korea.

 

Perhaps, and probably as things should be.

[Cryingdick]

1 hour ago, quandow said:

I watch Faux Noise on occasion (know your enemy). Yesterday there was a YUGE absence of any mention of Cohen's testimony, and even they had to admit it was a failure of a meeting, particularly because it was a spur of the moment thought by Trump and no planning went into it. Could it have been scheduled to try and take the focus off Cohen's testimony? If so, it sure backfired on THEM!!!

 

How long did you watch? They covered it. Meanwhile in the parallel universe of CNN all Cohen and 20 minutes of summit news. They both do the same thing. 

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

How long did you watch? They covered it. Meanwhile in the parallel universe of CNN all Cohen and 20 minutes of summit news. They both do the same thing. 

There wasn’t any summit news.

 

Though I have no doubt that the outcome of Trump’s meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister will eventually hit the news.

[Cryingdick]

47 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

There wasn’t any summit news.

 

Though I have no doubt that the outcome of Trump’s meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister will eventually hit the news.

 

I am just saying both sides of the news do exactly what the OP was talking about. Switch from one to the other at any given time and it is the opposite side of the coin. It truly is like a parallel universe.