The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
N. Korea's Kim Jong Un leaves Virtnam with a grin and wave
But hopes of reviving the country’s economy end with no progress.
HANOI, VIETNAM — As he boarded his train for the long journey home on Saturday, Kim Jong Un grinned, waved and clasped his hands above his head like a boxer celebrating victory.
North Korean state media has already proclaimed his summit meeting with President Donald Trump in Vietnam a success, but in reality the North Korean leader embarks on the long journey home largely empty-handed. He is likely to spend part of the time pondering his next move, especially because he has set great store in a campaign to revive the country’s economy.
What it means
“The North Koreans are in a seriously troubling situation now,” said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Kookmin University. “Kim Jong Un is still under pressure from sanctions, and it’s not clear what to do with the Americans. Most likely they will still keep talking, because Donald Trump remains very, very dangerous.”
After the breakdown of the summit the previous day, Kim spent Friday meeting with Vietnam’s top leaders in Hanoi.
There were no trips to manufacturing or tourism projects in the port city of Haiphong or Ha Long Bay that had been foreshadowed, and were supposed to signal North Korea’s intent to open its economic doors to the world.
“Despite the upbeat portrayal in the state media, the summit collapse should have left Kim and his aides in grave shock,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea leadership expert at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.
Confidence unrewarded
If the North Korean leader was angry or disappointed with the failure of his summit with Trump, he showed no sign of it as he left on Saturday morning, twice stopping to wave and grin at flag-waving crowds gathered outside Dong Dang station near Vietnam’s border with China. Then he boarded his personal, armored train.
Thae Yong Ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat who defected from the embassy in Britain in 2016, said Kim had been so confident of the summit’s success that he’d brought a large entourage on his train, including his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, and more than half of the ruling Politburo.
“Although it was publicized as a success in the state media, the ‘no deal summit’ witnessed by many officials would have irked Kim Jong Un,” he told Channel A news. “Kim tried to contain his anger and appear outwardly calm during his public appearance in Vietnam. But Kim Yo Jong and other aides had grim faces.”
What’s next
Experts said the damage to Kim’s standing would be limited, with the blame likely to be shifted onto Washington.
“The no-deal summit will be preached to the North Korean public as the Supreme Leader’s heroic safeguard of national security against the American raiders’ push to disarm the regime,” said Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector. “The military authorities in Pyongyang will actually welcome the breakdown of the nuclear summit. The switch to a peace regime would have diminished the power of the military in North Korea.”