At the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, expect a bad small deal
Kim Jong Un has managed to shift the focus from nuclear details to vague hopes of peace
AFTER THEIR made-for-television spectacular last June in Singapore, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un needed another gig. A second summit between the American president and North Korea’s dictator will take place on February 27th and 28th in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. The choice of venue is intriguing. For America, Vietnam’s Communist Party is foe turned buddy, and it has blazed a trail of market reforms in the country. Mr Kim, presumably, is expected to look and learn. But he has steadfastly refused to emulate Vietnam’s economic transformation. And, though Mr Trump has confessed to falling in love with the young despot, North Korea and America have only just started dating. For Mr Kim, Vietnam may just be a country that defeated the United States.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Fool me twice”
Asia February 23rd 2019
From the February 23rd 2019 edition
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