Each person has their own perspective to answer the question of why the US and North Korea chose Vietnam as the location for the second US-North Korea Summit. What is your point of view?
First of all, the reason why Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump chose Vietnam is Vietnam's growing prestige and position in the international community.
Vietnam is an active, proactive and responsible member of the international community, as demonstrated by the positions that Vietnam has held. These include its role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term and its preparation for a second term as a candidate for this position; Vietnam successfully hosted APEC Vietnam 2017, followed by the World Economic Forum on ASEAN (WEF ASEAN) 2018; in 2020, Vietnam will once again assume the role of ASEAN Chair... In terms of economy, the successes in dynamic innovation have also demonstrated Vietnam's management capacity.
Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh. (Photo: PH)
But perhaps the most important thing - the common denominator for both the US and North Korea to choose Vietnam - is that both Vietnam and North Korea have faced the US during the war, and now Vietnam has become a partner with the US, turning the past of hatred into a friendly and cooperative relationship. After the war, Vietnam unified the country, transforming from a centralized, planned economy to a market economy. These are all things that Vietnam and North Korea can share. Vietnam can be considered a symbol of peace, friendship and prosperity. The miracle that Vietnam has done with the US, North Korea can also do.
Chairman Kim Jong-un arrives in Vietnam to attend the 2nd US-North Korea Summit. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)
Compared to the first Conference in Singapore, will this Conference be more successful, sir?
The US-North Korea summit in Hanoi brings us much hope. This is the second summit and both sides have built a certain trust, while at the same time there has been a significant shift in inter-Korean relations in recent times.
We fully expect that this conference will bring about concrete results, perhaps a declaration on ending the state of war, moving towards normalizing relations; an agreement to lift sanctions, allowing North Korea to initially integrate into the world economy, or perhaps an agreement on eliminating nuclear programs. However, this goal requires a long roadmap and requires leaders to outline a roadmap for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It can be said that at present, the greatest hope is that ensuring peace for North Korea is very important; North Korea needs this guarantee to develop its economy.
If North Korea can normalize relations with the US, it means the unification process on the Korean peninsula will be accelerated. (Source: Google News)
If the first conference was not considered to be promising, why can we expect so much from this conference, sir?
If the first time, our hopes were not as high. The first summit was for both sides to learn about each other, to probe each other's attitudes, to exchange opinions, to build trust, the second summit cannot continue to express their wishes. The two sides no longer probe each other, they already know each other's wishes and have also built a certain trust in each other, so, coming to this conference, both sides certainly brought with them "baggage" of more specific and clear directions.
Moreover, Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump also want to prove to the world that their commitments are substantial. Recently, many people believe that these two leaders are playing political “games”, one side wants to “buy time” and the other side wants to prove its power, not to solve any specific problem.
However, what the two leaders have done and are doing clearly does not confirm that. On Twitter, Mr. Trump expressed his desire for North Korea to become an economic power. He wants economic investment and economic contracts with Pyongyang. The tendency to choose bilateral economic agreements is still prioritized by Mr. Trump over multilateral economic agreements. On the North Korean side, Chairman Kim Jong-un is also very eager to reach an agreement of an international nature, based on the partial removal of sanctions, thereby expanding the ability to trade.
To answer the question of why North Korea wants to meet the US, we can emphasize the following three hypotheses. First, North Korea's economic situation is currently very difficult, with few trading partners and a lack of technology, so the need to open up the economy is relatively large. Second, many people believe that the summits are a "trick" for Mr. Kim Jong-un to "buy time". Third, is it possible that North Korea feels strong enough to be confident at the negotiating table? I think the first reason is the most correct, along with North Korea's desire and proposal to be assured of peace.
Sir, what does the progress in US-North Korea relations mean for the issue of unification on the Korean peninsula?
These are two sides of the same coin. Obviously, if North Korea can normalize relations with the United States, it means that the unification process on the Korean peninsula will be accelerated. We all know that the problem on the Korean peninsula, like the problem of Vietnam or the Federal Republic of Germany in the past, is not only an internal problem of the two regions but also a problem of major countries.
The reunification of East and West Germany was previously possible thanks to the 4+2 agreement, which included the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and the United States, along with East and West Germany. As for North Korea, it is clear that South Korea has now expressed its desire for reunification under President Moon Jae-in, so the reunification process is very promising. In 2018, the two leaders of the two Koreas met three times and said with one voice, "We are one nation." The people of the two countries shared the feelings of people in the same family. It must be seen that one can divide a country, but it is difficult to divide a nation.
However, the issue of unification of the two regions still depends to some extent on China, Russia and even Japan - some countries that seem to be left out of the US - North Korea "train". However, with the good things happening, surely, all the knots will gradually be untied. After all, the internal issues between the two regions are still important, if the Vietnamese people or the German people in the past did not unanimously unify, it would be difficult to have a Germany or Vietnam like today.
According to International Newspaper
Author:Phuong Hang
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