Posted on : Feb.28,2019 14:47 KST Modified on : Feb.28,2019 14:50 KST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump begin their second summit by dining together at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel on the evening of Feb. 27. Joining Trump are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; and joining Kim are Workers’ Party of Korea Vice Chairman and United Front Department Director Kim Yong-chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. (AFP/Yonhap News)

Format of dinner much more intimate than Singapore summit’s working lunch

On. Feb. 27, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump appeared seated side-by-side at the same table at a “social dinner” ahead of their nuclear negotiations the next day. It marked the second time the two leaders have dined together, while the reduced number of attendees compared to the last time resulted in them being seated much closer together.

Lasting for one hour and 45 minutes, the social dinner between Trump and Kim took place at 7 pm on Feb. 27 at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi. It came as the highlight moment of a two-hour sequence also including greetings, conversation, and a short one-on-one summit ahead of their main summit on Feb. 28.

During the dinner, Kim and Trump were seated side-by-side on the left and right sides of the round table. The arrangement differed from their working lunch at last year’s Singapore summit, which saw them seated across from each other over a long and large rectangular table. While that meal had white floral decorations seemingly dividing the long table into separate spaces for the two sides, the latest had attendees on both sides seated together more intimately around the flowers at the center of the table. The 3+3 format, with two attendees from each side joining the North Korea and US leaders, also represented a decrease from the 15 attendees at the first summit luncheon (seven from the US and eight from the North Korean side).

Walking into the dinner venue with Kim, Trump asked reporters, “Everybody having a good time?”

Hopes for the summit to come were raised by a conversation between the two leaders as they sat next to each other at the table ahead of the dinner. Kim began by telling reporters the two had “exchanged a very interesting dialogue with each other.” Trump went on to add, “[W]e’re going to have a very busy day tomorrow.”

“[I]t will lead to, really, a wonderful situation long term,” he continued. Addressing Kim, Trump said, “[A] lot of things are going to be solved, I hope.”

“And our relationship is a very special relationship,” he added.

The two leaders’ second meeting in 260 days began at 6:28 pm. Clasping hands and holding eye contact with Kim for over 10 seconds, Trump predicted that the summit would be successful and that the two leaders would understand each other and produce good results. Trump’s trademark “power handshake” did not make an apperance. Smiling and lightly patting each other’s arms, the two leaders praised each other’s efforts leading up to the Hanoi summit. In particular, Kim smiled broadly in response to Trump’s remarks praising North Korea’s economic potential. Kim’s face appeared slightly reddened, possibly from fatigue due to his long journey.

Trump wrote a black suit and a pink- and navy-striped necktie to the meeting on Feb. 27. Kim once again appeared in a black inminbok (North Korean “people’s clothing”) suit.

By diplomatic convention, the right-hand position is considered the “senior” side when two leaders are standing next to each other; on this occasion, Trump stood on the right. Kim previously stood on the right at the first summit in Singapore. As the two leaders clasped hands, a total of 12 flags could be seen behind them: six US flags and six North Korean flags arranged in an alternating pattern. The same image was seen at the first summit in Singapore, albeit with the sequence slightly changed.

Dinner assumedly used as opportunity to fine-tune upcoming Hanoi Statement

Absent from the previous summit last year, the dinner meeting was symbolic of the two leaders’ closeness and mutual trust. Indeed, the two appeared to be using the dinner as an occasion for the final fine-tuning of their Hanoi Statement, which is expected to be declared tonight. While US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and North Korean State Affairs Commission Special Representative for US Affairs Kim Hyok-chol started holding working-level talks in Hanoi on Feb. 21, the two sides reportedly ran into difficulties concerning key issues – namely the sequence and level of denuclearization and corresponding measures.

“This may represent the last working-level negotiating on the agreement text for the joint statement,” a foreign affairs source said ahead of the dinner.

The other attendees at the dinner were Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on the US side, and Workers’ Party of Korea Vice Chairman and United Front Department Director Kim Yong-chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on the North Korean side.

Trump likens Vietnam’s development to North Korea’s economic potential

Prior to the dinner, Kim forwent outings in favor of staying in his lodgings at the Melia Hanoi hotel – apparently to focus on reviewing the current situation in negotiations. Meanwhile, Trump called for a denuclearization decision from North Korea and voiced his hopes for the second North Korea-US summit during a meeting with Vietnamese leaders and in message on Twitter.

“Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize,” he tweeted.

“The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un,” he added.

Meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, Trump described Vietnam as “an example [to North Korea] as to what can happen with good thinking.”

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent, and Kim Ji-eun and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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