Collapse of talks

No agreement reached at Hanoi summit

The second U.S.-North korea summit between President Trump and Kim Jongun in Hanoi, Vietnam, came to an abrupt close Thursday without any agreement being reached.

The Hanoi summit failed to meet the worldwide expectations to preduce a more specific outcome than the first Turmp-Kim summit in Singapore in June 2018, as the two sides were unable to narrow the persistent gap in their denuclearization negotiations.

Things started to look bad with the cancellation of a planned lunch and the singing of a joint statement that was supposed to be known as the Hanoi Declaration. The two leaders returned to their respective hotels Thursday afternoon after meetings earlier in the day.

The turn of events has shocked the world since the two leaders started their encounter in Vietnam on a very positive note. The two leaders kicked off their highly anticipated summit with friendly words for each other, with Trump emphasizing his "good relationship" with Kim. Kim stressed his determination for good results, saying he would not be there if he did not have the "will to denuclearize." But the talks looked shaky when they showed glaring differences, such as when Trump said he was in no hurry for denuclearization, but Kim said that for him, timing was important. Such discrepancies reflected the lack of sufficient coordination prior to the summit.

There are many factors that contributed to the summit's collapse, but the main reason is that the two sides failed to reach a realistic compromise. The U.S. has wanted North Korea to commit to more concrete measures for denuclearization, such as the verified dismantlement of its Yongbyon nuclear facilities and more. But Kim's priority lies in rebuilding North Korea's economy and demanding the lifting of sanctions that have greatly hampered its economic growth.

It is also unfortunate that the talks came amid a political crisis for Trump, who is being attacked for a wide range of scandals. As he was visiting Hanoi, Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer, testified on Capitol Hill about Trump's alleged wrongdoings while in office during a hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. These circumstnaces were not conducive for Trump to concentrate fully on the talks with Kim.

Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a press conference before leaving Vietnam. They called the talks "productive" and showed their willingness to continue to forge good relations with North Korea. But they stressed that sanctions will remain until they are able to achieve denuclearization on their terms.

The most worrisome aspect is that Pyongyang could react in a hostile way following the collapse of the talks. To prevent such an unfortunate situation, the U.S. and North Korea must keep up their negotiations for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The failed Trump-Kim talks place South Korea in a difficult situation as well. Moon had been hoping for a successful summit to pave the way for Kim's visit to seoul in the near future. Seoul should pay keen attention to the situation and come up with corresponding strategies rather than pushing too hard for Kim's visit to Seoul or inter-Korean economic cooperation.