Last night President Trump finally held his State of the Union address before Congress in the United States. The speech was meant to highlight the main points on Trump’s agenda and set the tone for the government’s work in 2019.
Among other things, Trump announced that plans have been made for another summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It is scheduled to take place on February 27-28 in Vietnam; the city has not yet been announced. Vietnam was chosen as the ideal meeting place since the country has close ties with both the United States and North Korea.
In 2017 Trump spent a considerable amount of time exchanging threats with Kim Jong-un, trying to pressure North Korea to not use its war missiles. After this did not work out, the two suddenly struck a friendship and were able to meet in Singapore in a historic moment. Both Trump and Kim Jong-un have stated they want to work together for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but so far nothing has been achieved on that front. The disagreement largely comes from the fact that North Korea expects the United States to also get rid of their nuclear weapons.
The move towards a second summit was praised by South Korea, who is in charge of mediating between the two countries and has an interest in improving relations with their Northern neighbours. Analysts, however, are still unsure what the summit will achieve.
