A meeting between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended early on Thursday after the two leaders failed to come to an agreement on de-escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula.
The main cause for the summit to fall apart has to do with what each side wanted, and what the other did not want to give up. Trump came into the meeting wanting a more concrete plan from Kim that North Korea would disarm their entire nuclear weapons program. Kim meanwhile wanted a promise from Trump that the US would lift the economic sanctions that had been placed on North Korea.
Trump stated that the talks fell apart because he wanted North Korea to dismantle all their nuclear sites, both covert and non-covert, in exchange for sanction relief. According to Trump, North Korea would only accept the dismantling of their non-covert nuclear sites in exchange for relief from all sanctions.
According to the North Korean foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, North Korea had only demanded partial sanctions relief in return for closing Yongbyon, a non-covert nuclear site.
Trump said despite these talks breaking down, the agreement made last June at the previous summit still stands, wherein North Korea will cease missile launches if the US stops doing joint military exercises with South Korea.
Last June, Trump and Kim met to discuss how North Korea might go about getting rid of its nuclear weapons, which led to a signed agreement between the two leaders pledging to improve relations between the US and North Korea. The agreement also led to North Korea releasing the remains of 55 US soldiers that were killed in the Korean War.
