Vietnam summit

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meet in Hanoi

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meet in Hanoi

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday met face-to-face for the first time since their historic summit last year.

This time around, the heads of the two nuclear-armed nations are squaring off in Vietnam for two days of talks that are set to focus on many of the same issues they debated last June in Singapore.

Trump is pushing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons as he dangles the prospect of an economic boost to the hermit nation. Kim wants to see sanctions eased without losing the strategic benefits of his weapons of mass destruction.

The summit kicked off with a brief one-on-one meeting between the two leaders at the historic Metropole hotel in Hanoi. Trump and Kim were then set to be joined by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and two North Korean officials for what the White House deemed a "social dinner."

In a brief pre-dinner statement while seated next to Kim, Trump said he hoped this week's summit will be "equal or greater" in terms of results than last year's meeting between the two leaders. He emphasized his personal connection to the autocratic leader, saying their relationship had made "the biggest progress."

"Your country has tremendous economic potential — unbelievable, unlimited — and I think that you will have a tremendous future with your country, a great leader," Trump said, looking directly at his North Korean counterpart. "I look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen — and we will help it to happen."

Earlier in the day, Trump met with Vietnam's president and prime minister, and repeatedly suggested that North Korea could realize a "thriving" economy if only it plays ball with the U.S.

Most news from the U.S.-North Korea summit is likely to come on Thursday. The two sides are expected to hold meetings throughout the better part of that day, and some form of statement or signing is likely at the summit's conclusion.

Nuclear weapons

That was how Trump and Kim closed their summit in Singapore last June. The leaders held a signing ceremony for a declaration that said both sides would commit to establishing better relations and that North Korea "commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Last year's meeting marked the first in-person meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean head of state.

Trump heralded that agreement as "very comprehensive," but outside observers downplayed its importance because of a recurring diplomatic issue with Pyongyang: North Korea has a different definition for "denuclearization" than others.

"So far, North Korea seems only willing to take measures that limit its nuclear and missile capabilities — it has no indications that it wants to roll back or undercut its existing nuclear arsenal or missile arsenal." -Tong Zhao, fellow, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy

Pyongyang has said in the past that it may denuclearize only if certain conditions were fulfilled. Those include the U.S. withdrawing troops from South Korea as well as ending the U.S. regional nuclear umbrella, a security arrangement in which Washington promises in-kind retaliation on behalf of close allies if they are attacked with nuclear weapons.

American and North Korean sides still appear far apart on the idea of North Korea getting rid of its nuclear weapons.

"So far, North Korea seems only willing to take measures that limit its nuclear and missile capabilities — it has no indications that it wants to roll back or undercut its existing nuclear arsenal or missile arsenal," Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, told CNBC on Tuesday.

Reports since the last Trump-Kim summit suggest North Korean forces are continuing to develop missile technology and nuclear weapons in secret facilities. A U.S. intelligence report last month said that North Korea was "unlikely to give up" its weapons of mass destruction, missiles or production capability.

Trump has repeatedly pointed out that no one has detected North Korea testing nuclear devices or ballistic missiles since his administration began engaging with the Kim regime in earnest.

For a period in 2017 — Trump's first year in office — North Korea created global anxiety by testing missiles at least once a month and directing regular threats toward the United States and others. Trump declared in August 2017 that such threats "will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."-CNBC