Bomb bunker, war reporters and Charlie Chaplin: Hanoi's storied Metropole hosts Kim-Trump summit

HANOI (Reuters) - A storied French colonial-era hotel once used by the North Vietnamese government to house foreign guests during the Vietnam War is set to host U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet for a second nuclear summit on Wednesday. The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has hosted dignitaries and celebrities from Charlie Chaplin on his honeymoon in 1936 to “Hanoi Jane” Fonda during her 1970s anti-war campaign and even Trump himself on a recent visit to the Vietnamese capital. The Metropole could begin a new chapter as a symbol of peace if Trump and Kim, as some officials in Seoul and Washington expect, formally declare an end to the last remaining Cold War conflict after their two-day summit.

The United States and North Korea are technically still at war, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. “We hope Trump and Kim make some progress with their denuclearization and hopefully open North Korea to the outside world,” said Stephen Fries, a doctor from Colorado whose long-planned family trip was disrupted by preparations for the summit. He was among two dozen Metropole guests touring an underground air raid bunker at the hotel used during the Vietnam War that was rediscovered by chance in 2011 while the hotel was renovating its poolside Bamboo bar. Trump and Kim will meet at the Metropole at 6:30 pm (1130 GMT) on Wednesday, where the two will have a 20-minute one-on-one chat followed by a dinner with aides, the White House said. “It’s about time there is a deal. Vietnam had been our enemy, now they are kind of a friend. I hope North Korea would become exactly like Vietnam, and maybe use it an example to follow for its own economic development,” Fries said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-scene/bomb-bunker-war-reporters-and-charlie-chaplin-hanois-storied-metropole-hosts-kim-trump-summit-idUSKCN1QG05Z?il=0

Trump says he appreciates commercial order that Vietnam has made

HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he appreciated the commercial order that Vietnam had made as well as the fact that the U.S. trade deficit with the Southeast Asian nation was coming down. At a lunch with the Vietnamese prime minister and other officials, Trump also said he was looking forward to his meeting Wednesday evening with Kim Jong Un and that the North Korean leader wanted to do something great. Ahead of the lunch meeting, Vietnamese carriers VietJet and Bamboo Airways signed deals with Boeing Co to buy 110 planes worth more than $15 billion.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-trump-lunch/trump-says-he-appreciates-commercial-order-that-vietnam-has-made-idUSKCN1QG0HA?il=0

Trump says 'my friend Kim' has great opportunity at second summit

HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet on Wednesday for their second summit, betting their personal relationship can break a stalemate over the North’s nuclear weapons and end more than 70 years of hostility. Despite little progress toward his stated goal of ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons since first meeting Kim in Singapore last year, Trump has said he is fully committed to his personal diplomacy with Kim. Trump said late last year he and Kim “fell in love”, and on the eve of his departure for the second summit said they had developed “a very, very good relationship”.

Whether the bonhomie can move them beyond summit pageantry to substantive progress on eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States is the question that will dominate their talks in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. “Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize,” Trump said on Twitter. “The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon - Very Interesting!”

Trump and Kim will meet at the Metropole hotel at 6:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) for a 20-minute, one-on-one chat followed by a dinner with aides, the White House said. The elegant interior of the 118-year-old Metropole thronged with security and diplomatic personnel from both sides - some snapping pictures - as hotel staff made final preparations. On Thursday, the two leaders will hold “a series of back and forth” meetings, the White House said.The venue for those meetings has not been announced.

In Singapore, they pledged to work toward denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula. North and South Korea have been technically still at war since their 1950-53 conflict, with the Americans backing the South, ended in a truce, not a treaty. The Singapore meeting - the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader - ended with great fanfare but little substance over how to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Both sides are likely to feel pressure to agree on specific measures this time - what concrete steps North Korea will take to give up the weapons, and what the United States will offer in return. While the United States is demanding North Korea give up all of its nuclear and missile programs, the North wants to see the removal of a U.S. nuclear umbrella for South Korea. U.S. intelligence officials have said there is no sign North Korea will ever give up its entire arsenal of cherished nuclear weapons, which it sees as its guarantee of national security, while analysts say it won’t commit to significant disarmament unless punishing U.S.-led economic sanctions are eased. Trump has held out the prospect of easing them if North Korea does something “meaningful”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-summit/trump-says-my-friend-kim-has-great-opportunity-at-second-summit-idUSKCN1QF2Y7?il=0

Sleepless in Pyongyang: North Korean media lauds Kim's grand tour

SEOUL/HANOI (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s long trip to Vietnam for a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump is causing sleepless nights back home, according to extensive and unusually punctual North Korean state media coverage. Unlike with their first summit in Singapore in June, when North Korean state media stayed silent until after Kim arrived in the city state, coverage this time began swiftly as he traveled through China to Vietnam by train.

North Korea’s flagship state newspaper Rodong Sinmun emblazoned its front and second pages on Wednesday with pictures from Kim’s first day in Vietnam. Photos showed Kim surrounded by welcoming throngs, talking to his foreign-policy lieutenants in his stateroom, and greeting cheering children of North Korean embassy staff. Trump and Kim will meet on Wednesday and Thursday, betting their personal relationship can break a stalemate over the North’s nuclear weapons and end more than 70 years of hostility.

Since North Korean media first confirmed Kim’s trip on Sunday, Rodong has dedicated much of its coverage to Kim’s “historic overseas trip” with descriptions of his “extraordinary political and excellent diplomatic skills”. “Three days, three nights have passed since the news of the Dear Marshal’s overseas visit,” a commentary said on Wednesday. “Sleepless thinking of the Dear Marshal since Sunday” was leading to increased production from workers in the eastern town of Samjiyon and other construction “battlefields”, it added. Samjiyon is at the foot of Mount Paektu, a sacred mountain where the ruling family claims its roots. Kim is building a massive tourism center there, one of his largest construction initiatives as he seeks to make his sanctions-hit economy more self-reliant.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-statemedia/sleepless-in-pyongyang-north-korean-media-lauds-kims-grand-tour-idUSKCN1QG0G6

>>5410902

I am still trying to understand why he was wearing a lanyard that said "Bloomberg Government" What is that supposed to mean, if anything?

>>5410903

Hmm, wonder if this relates to Fugi water, aka bottled water?