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Trump-Kim Handshake May Be Meaningless Without Bridging Denuclearization
Differences

Christy Lee

   Baik Sung-won of VOA's Korean Service contributed to this report.

   President Donald Trump may have jumpstarted a new round of
   working-level talks with Pyongyang at his meeting with North Korean
   leader Kim Jong Un, but experts say their handshake is meaningless
   unless negotiators make a headway in bridging the countries' divergent
   approaches toward denuclearization.

   "It was great being with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea this
   weekend," Trump tweeted on Monday, the day after the two leaders met.
   "We had a great meeting'¦I look forward to seeing him again soon'¦In
   the meantime, our team will be meeting to work on some solutions to
   very long-term and persistent problems. No rush, but I am sure we will
   ultimately get there."

     It was great being with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea this
     weekend. We had a great meeting, he looked really well and very
     healthy - I look forward to seeing him again soon....
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [1]July 1, 2019

   The tweet came after Trump met Kim at the Freedom House on the South
   Korean side of the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in the
   demilitarized zone (DMZ) that dissect the two Koreas. On Sunday, Trump
   announced that working-level talks with Pyongyang will begin within
   weeks.

   Talks [2]stalled at the Hanoi summit in Februaryand the upcoming
   working level talks will attempt to get Washington and Pyongyang to
   bridge their differences on denuclearization, a process experts said
   will be difficult but not impossible.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1145818575049023488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://www.voanews.com/usa/trump-kim-summit-ends-no-agreement

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