The second U.S.-North Korea Summit in Hanoi was an important step in the development of dialogue between the two sides, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters on Thursday evening. Vietnam has been consistent in its support of peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Hang stressed at a press conference held shortly after the Trump-Kim summit ended with no deal reached between the U.S. and North Korean leaders on Thursday afternoon. During their dialogues at the summit, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made active and constructive efforts to discuss a number of important issues. “Vietnam, as the host of the summit, spared no efforts to make careful and comprehensive preparations and ensure absolute safety and security for the event, which reflected the country’s external policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, and development,” Hang stated. According to Hang, Vietnam’s role in the summit shows that it becoming more widely recognized as a responsible member in the international community. Vietnam’s role and position in organizing the event were recognized and highly appreciated by leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, as well as by other nations, Hang said. The Southeast Asian country shares hopes with the international community that the both the U.S. and North Korea will continue to work towards resolving their disputes and continue to develop their relations. Hang also noted that Vietnam is willing to continue playing a constructive role in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. The second U.S.-North Korean Summit took place at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in the Vietnamese capital on February 27 and 28. Following his meetings with North Korean leader Kim on Thursday, President Trump told the press that the talks were effective and the two discussed a number of issues but decided that it was not the right time to sign a joint statement …
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Trump says he walked from deal with Kim over North Korean sanction demands
HANOI -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had walked away from a nuclear deal at a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because of unacceptable North Korean demands to lift punishing U.S.-led sanctions. Earlier, both Trump and Kim had expressed hope for progress on improving relations and on the key issue of denuclearization, in their talks in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, their second summit in eight months. “It was all about the sanctions,” Trump said at a news conference after the talks were cut short. “Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that.” The United Nations and the United States ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea when the state undertook a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests in 2017, cutting off its main source of hard cash. Both Trump and Kim left the venue of their talks, the French-colonial-era Metropole hotel, without attending a planned lunch together, and returned to their hotels. “Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” Trump said, adding “it was a friendly walk”. Failure to reach an agreement marks a setback for Trump, a self-styled dealmaker under pressure at home over his ties to Russia and testimony from Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer who accused him of breaking the law while in office. Trump said Cohen “lied a lot” during Congressional testimony in Washington on Wednesday, though he had told the truth when he said there had been “no collusion” with Russia. Since their first summit in Singapore in June, Trump has stressed the good chemistry he has with Kim, but there have been questions about whether the bonhomie could move them beyond summit pageantry to substantive progress on eliminating a North Korean nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States. 'No rush' While Trump had said he was in “no rush” to strike a deal with North Korea, and wanted to do the right deal with Kim, the White House had been …
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Vietnam PM holds talk with US President Trump over currency issue
The Hanoitimes - The two leaders agree that a strong bilateral relation will bring benefits to businesses and people of the two countries. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday [December 22] held a phone talk with US President Donald Trump over the bilateral relations, including recent investigation on Vietnam initiated by the US Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 regarding currency undervaluation and wood products. Prime Minister Phuc during the talks. Photo: Quang Hieu. The US Treasury Department on December 16 labeled Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators, along with adding three new names, including Taiwan, Thailand and India in a watch list of countries and territories it suspects of deliberately devaluing their currencies against the dollar. Others on the list include China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Malaysia. Under its semi-annual currency manipulation report, the Treasury stated Vietnam had acted to gain “unfair competitive advantage in international trade as well.” In the phone talk with Mr. Trump, the Vietnam PM said Vietnam is a developing country with limited economic capability. “The main objective in Vietnam’s monetary policy management is to control the inflation and stabilize macro-economic conditions, not for unfair gains in global trade,” Mr. Phuc stated. “Vietnamese government agencies will continue to cooperate with the US counterparts to resolve issues of shared concern between the two countries, aiming to ensure a stabilized, balanced and sustainable trade relations for mutual benefits,” informed the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement. Both leaders agreed that the Vietnam-US relations have been growing strongly in all spheres after 25 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and especially in recent years, while expressing strong belief that a stable bilateral relation will bring benefits to people …
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