ASSESSMENTS

Why an Abrupt Finale to the Trump-Kim Summit Won't Kill Negotiations

Feb 28, 2019 | 16:54 GMT

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) holds a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi on Feb. 28, 2019. The pair's meeting might have collapsed, but that doesn't entail that their ties will as well.

(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

The second Trump-Kim summit ended suddenly and prematurely, reportedly due to an impasse over what North Korea was willing to trade for sanctions relief, along with other issues related to Pyongyang's weapons program, according to Washington.
This, however, does not presage a return to the escalating tests and tensions that preceded the 2018 rapprochement, as progress and negotiations at a lower level are likely to continue.
In the wake of this summit breakdown, China and South Korea will move quickly to try to put the U.S.-North Korea relationship back on track and sustain diplomatic dialogue.

Hopes of a breakthrough abounded as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went to Hanoi, Vietnam, for a second landmark summit, but the two heads of state are returning home without a deal. Speaking after the cancellation of their working lunch on Feb. 28, Trump said Kim had requested that Washington lift sanctions "in their entirety" but that it would be inappropriate for the United States to sign off on a deal, leading Washington to "walk away." Nevertheless, the two will continue to pursue talks, as neither has any interest in a complete rupture in relations....

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