Kim leaves North Korea on armoured train to meet Trump in Vietnam – By Sanya Burgess (Sky News) / Feb 24 2019
The leaders of North Korea and the US will hold their second summit in Vietnam later this week.
Kim Jong Un is travelling to Vietnam for his second summit with Donald Trump.
The North Korean leader was greeted with a guard of honour as he boarded an armoured train in Pyongyang – and his journey is expected to take more than two days.
His overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret, but Mr Kim is expected to travel thousands of miles through China as he heads to Hanoi.
Other passengers on the luxury train include Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister.
Image: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un departs for a summit in Hanoi
The upcoming summit is expected to see Mr Kim seek a US commitment for an improved relationship between the two countries, likely in the form of partial relief on economic sanctions.
It is expected he will try to avoid any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons.
At their first summit in June last year, Mr Trump reached a vague agreement on North Korea’s denuclearisation, but little tangible progress has been made since.
When the second summit was announced in January, the White House said Mr Trump was “looking forward to a second summit with Chairman Kim”.
Mr Trump and Mr Kim’s relationship has been tumultuous.
The US president once labelled his North Korean counterpart “little rocket man” as nuclear tensions rose – but in a rally last September, he said Mr Kim “wrote me beautiful letters and they’re great letters. We fell in love”.
Security in Hanoi has been beefed up, while flowers and the flags of North Korea, the US and Vietnam have been used to decorate the streets around two potential venues.
The colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is likely to be the venue for the summit, while the nearby Metropole Hotel is expected to be a backup.
