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Opinion | Second time lucky: why Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will make a real nuclear deal this time
- Both Trump and Kim are at a critical juncture. If Trump wants to be re-elected, he needs to achieve a trade deal with China and a nuclear pact with North Korea
- Meanwhile, Kim is desperate to save the North Korean economy from US sanctions
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The second Trump-Kim summit will soon be held in Hanoi, Vietnam. Should we be optimistic, pessimistic or indifferent to it?
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Following Kim Jong-un’s visit to Beijing in January and the announcement of a second summit between Donald Trump and Kim, I wrote an article about the increasing likelihood of Kim abandoning nuclear weapons in 2019.
Stephen Biegun, the US’ special representative for North Korea, also revealed that Washington and Pyongyang had formed a consensus on the North’s early steps towards denuclearisation and the US’ coordinating measures.
According to the South Korean media, the US is adopting a plan that is “phased”, “step for step” and multilinear. Washington will request Pyongyang to close its Yongbyon nuclear facility, Tongchang-ri missile base and its nuclear test site; to allow inspections; and to commit to declaring all its nuclear facilities within a deadline.
In return, the US will declare the end of Korean war, approve Chinese and South Korean aid to North Korea, and relax or lift sanctions.
Assuming that reports of the above-mentioned plan are true, the US seems to be retreating from its earlier position on denuclearisation.
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