The Editorial Board USA TODAY Last June's historic first meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore left some positive developments in its wake. North Korea extended a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The United States, North Korea and South Korea are talking more about peaceful coexistence than about nuclear annihilation. Forensic examinations show that boxes of bodies Pyongyang turned over as a goodwill gesture contain remains of U.S. troops from the Korean War. And Trump's multilateral "maximum pressure" sanctions remain in place, if a little shaky. But heading into this week's follow-up summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, a mountainof unfinished business remains. Despite a vague promise in Singapore to "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the rogue regime continues to clandestinely produce nuclear fuel for bombs and expand its ballistic missile program, building more operating sites. It clings to an arsenal of 30 to 60 nuclear bombs, and the cumulative assessment by U.S. spy agencies is that Kim never intends to give up these weapons. REP. BABIN:President has made unthinkable progress Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear on Sunday that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, in stark contrast to Trump's assertion after Singapore that "there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea." Trump is placing considerable stock in a chemistry he says he developed with the North Korean leader. "We fell in love," Trump told a rally last year. While personal rapport is an important aspect of international diplomacy, "love" is an odd way to describe a dictator who runs one of the world's most barbaric regimes, where every aspect of 26 million lives is controlled by the state, and where dissent is crushed with public executions and work camps into which 80,000 to 120,000 citizens have disappeared. Meanwhile, there has been little or no negotiating progress since Singapore, despite interim efforts by Pompeo and Stephen Biegun, the special envoy to North Korea. Trump has his work cut out for him as he sits down again with Kim this week. Priorities should include: ►An accounting of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, a fundamental first step. ►A definition of what, precisely, denuclearization means to Kim. Pyongyang wants it to include stripping the region of U.S. strategic and nuclear assets — a non-starter. ►A comprehensive road map going forward, spelling out what steps North Korea will take to denuclearize in exchange for U.S. reciprocation such as opening up liaison offices between capitals and perhaps declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which has remained in armistice status for decades. Particularly concerning is Trump's infatuation with diplomatic flash over substance and his desire for a deal he could use to distract from negative headlines at home about the Mueller investigation and public testimony of ex-fixer Michael Cohen. Trump heralded the Singapore results, as vague as they turned out to be. And he covets a Nobel Peace Prize for his limited efforts (his staff successfully solicited a nomination for the prize from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year, according to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper). If, eventually, there's tangible and verifiable progress that persuades Kim to relinquish horrible weapons of mass destruction, then we can talk Nobel. Until then, the prize is as premature as the one awarded to Trump's predecessor. If you can't see this reader poll, please refresh your page.<doc-sep>Only eight months after the first U.S.-North Korea summit, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met again on Wednesday in Vietnam but walked away from negotiations about 24 hours later. A lunch and signing ceremony that had been scheduled for Thursday was canceled and Trump departed for Washington several hours ahead of schedule. Trump remained non-committal about a third summit. TRUMP SHAKES HANDS WITH NORTH KOREA'S KIM JONG UN AT START OF HANOI SUMMIT Read on to see what happened in Vietnam and how the relationship between Trump and Kim has evolved since their historic meeting in June. Feb. 27: No deal Trump told reporters he was unable to reach a deal with North Korea because Kim wanted U.S. sanctions to be completely removed before he promised to shut down North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility. “It was about the sanctions,” Trump said. “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that. They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that.” Despite the lack of progress, the president said he trusted Kim's promise he would not resume nuclear and missile testing, but that the current U.S. sanctions would stay in place. Feb. 26: Meeting again Trump and Kim shake hands at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in Vietnam ahead of their second summit. “It’s an honor to be with Chairman Kim," Trump said at the time. "I thought the first summit was a great success and I think this one, hopefully, will be equal or greater than the first." Feb. 8, 2019: Trump tweets details about the summit After aides met in North Korea to discuss a second summit, Trump tweeted to confirm that it would be happening on Feb. 27 and 28 in Hanoi. He tweeted later that day that he is hopeful for North Korea’s success in the future. “North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, will become a great Economic Powerhouse. He may surprise some but he won’t surprise me, because I have gotten to know him & fully understand how capable he is. North Korea will become a different kind of Rocket - an Economic one!” he wrote. Feb. 5, 2019: Trump announces second summit at State of the Union During his State of the Union address, Trump announced he and Kim would meet for a second summit at the end of February in Vietnam. "As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula," he said. "Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months." January 2019: North Korean official visits Oval Office North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol visited the Oval Office on Jan. 18 for 90 minutes to discuss denuclearization and a second summit. He brought a letter from the North Korean leader to Trump. The next day, Trump confirmed plans were underway for a second summit at the end of February. NORTH KOREAN MEDIA CONFIRM KIM JONG UN IS ON TRAIN TO 2ND SUMMIT Trump also responded to Kim’s letter, which North Korean media reported as a “good personal letter,” the KCNA said, according to Yonhap News. “He spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-U.S. summit,” the news outlet added. Jan. 1, 2019: Kim says he's willing to meet with Trump again In a New Year’s speech, Kim said he was prepared to meet with Trump, though he threatened “an alternative course” if the U.S. "continues to break its promises and misjudges our patience by unilaterally demanding certain things and pushes ahead with sanctions and pressure." December 2018: Trump confirms a second summit As he returned to the U.S. from the G20 summit in Argentina in December, Trump told reporters there would be a second summit with North Korea by the end of January or February, Reuters reported. “We're getting along very well," he reportedly said. "We have a good relationship with Kim." Trump also said he planned to invite North Korea's leader to the U.S. at some point. Sept. 25, 2018: South Korean president meets with North Korean leaders to discuss a second summit South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with North Korean leaders in Pyongyang in September to discuss denuclearization and a second summit with Trump. He told Fox News’ Bret Baier that he felt he had “ascertained Chairman Kim’s commitment to complete denuclearization.” “If the United States could take corresponding measures, then I believe we will be able to expedite North Korea by further denuclearization measures,” Moon said. TRUMP, KIM JONG UN'S SUMMIT IN VIETNAM: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE LEADERS' SECOND MEETING At the time, Moon said he believed a second summit could happen by the end of 2018. Sept. 29, 2018: North Korean leaders say the country doesn’t trust the US About three months after the first summit between Kim and Trump, North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Yong Ho complained to the United Nations that the U.S. was not responding to North Korea’s “significant goodwill measures” to denuclearize the country, Reuters reported. “Without any trust in the U.S. there will be no confidence in our national security and under such circumstances, there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first,” he told the U.N. June 12, 2018: First summit ends positively, but with few specific details Trump and Kim began their historic summit with a handshake on the morning of June 12, 2018, in Singapore. After one-on-one talks, expanded discussions with their aides and a “working lunch,” the two world leaders signed a statement promising to establish a better relationship between the two nations and work towards denuclearization - without any specifics about how denuclearization would be accomplished. NORTH KOREA DRAGGING FEET ON PLEDGE TO TURN OVER AMERICAN REMAINS, AS 2ND SUMMIT LOOMS "We had a really fantastic meeting, a lot of progress, really very positive," Trump said. "I think better than anybody could have expected. Top of the line, really good. We’re going right now to a signing.” March 2018 - June 1, 2018: US and North Korean leaders go back and forth on meeting In the months leading up to the first summit between Trump and Kim, the leaders continued to go back and forth on whether they would meet. Though Trump accepted Kim’s invitation to meet in early March, the date and location of the meeting (June 12 in Singapore) weren’t set until May. However, North Korean leaders threatened to cancel the talks midway through May and Trump himself said he would back out. Leaders from both sides eventually said they would be willing to talk after South Korean president stepped in to talk with North Korean leaders and aides from both North Korea and the U.S. met in North Korea, Singapore and New York City to finalize details ahead of the actual summit. The summit was officially confirmed again by Trump on June 1 after he received a personal letter from Kim, delivered by a North Korean official to the White House. Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty, Samuel Chamberlain, Bret Baier, Elizabeth Zwirz, Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Dom Calicchio, Brooke Singman, John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived by armored train at Vietnam's Dong Dang railway station on the China-Vietnam border on Tuesday for his second nuclear summit with President Trump. Press reports speculate that Kim will be driven to Hanoi ahead of his Wednesday meeting with Trump. Officials shared no details about the specifics of a summit that the world will be watching closely. Trump was flying to Hanoi from Washington. Kim’s arrival, after a long ride that started in Pyongyang and wound through China, comes as Vietnamese officials scramble to finish preparations for a rushed summit that’s meant to deal with one of Asia’s biggest security challenges: North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear program that stands on the verge of viably threatening any target on the planet. TRUMP, KIM’S VIETNAM SUMMIT JOINS LONG LIST OF KEY MOMENTS BETWEEN WORLD LEADERS: A TIMELINE Although many experts are skeptical Kim will give up the nukes, there was a palpable, carnival-like excitement among many in Hanoi as the final preparations were made. Officials in Hanoi said they only had about 10 days to prepare for the summit — much less than the nearly two months Singapore had before the first Trump-Kim meeting last year— but still vowed to provide airtight security for the two leaders. “Security will be at the maximum level,” Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung told reporters. The ultra-tight security will be appreciated by North Korean authorities, who are extremely vigilant about the safety of Kim, the third member of his family to rule the North with absolute power. Kim’s decision to take a train, not a plane, may have been influenced by the better ability to control security. Vietnam is eager to show off its huge economic and development improvements since the destruction of the Vietnam War, but the country also tolerates no dissent and is able to provide the kind of firm hand not allowed by more democratic potential hosts. Vietnam has announced an unprecedented traffic ban along a possible arrival route for Kim. The Communist Party’s Nhan Dan newspaper quoted the Roads Department as saying the ban will affect the 105-mile stretch of Highway One from Dong Dang, on the border with China, to Hanoi. There are high expectations for the Hanoi summit after a vague declaration at the first meeting in June in Singapore that disappointed many. KIM JONG UN’S TRAIN TRAVEL TO VIETNAM HIDDEN BY CHINESE CENSORS In a meeting with senior aides in Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the Trump-Kim talks would be a critical opportunity to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula. Moon, who met Kim three times last year and has lobbied hard to revive nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea, is eager for a breakthrough that would allow him to push ambitious plans for inter-Korean engagement, including lucrative joint economic projects that are held back by U.S.-led sanctions against the North. “If President Trump succeeds in dissolving the world’s last remaining Cold War rivalry, it will become yet another great feat that will be indelibly recorded in world history,” Moon said. Trump, via Twitter, has worked to temper those expectations, predicting before leaving for Hanoi a “continuation of the progress” made in Singapore but adding a tantalizing nod to “Denuclearization?” He also said that Kim knows that “without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World.” North Korea has spent decades, at great political and economic sacrifice, building its nuclear program, and there is widespread skepticism among experts that it will give away that program cheaply. The Associated Press contributed to this report.