The 2nd Kim-Trump summit: Time to 'walk away'?

World
Europe

04:21

"Sometimes you just had to walk away." That was what President Donald Trump from the United States said over and over again at the media conference.

The 2nd Kim-Trump summit was cut short without reaching an agreement, even though the president of the United States tried to decorate that fact with what he believes is a good relationship between him and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

But come to think about it, despite the early paparazzi, the talks were never guaranteed to be a success, to begin with. Particularly if you listened closely to the hint of caution in the DPRK leader's voice.

Now, there is a tendency in the world that the world will only hear whoever has a bigger and louder voice. In this case, it was certainly true. Particularly due to the fact that the DPRK still remains mysterious to the rest of the world.

But one has to realize that the DPRK can be more sophisticated than many in the West might dare believe. Though the country has been isolated from the rest of the world due to the nuclear crisis, it has apparently mapped out a plan for both a security guarantee and apparently economic development as well.

That might be the reason it chose to take part in these summits with the United States to begin with. That could also explain the recent multilateral interactions the DPRK has had with the Republic of Korea (ROK), China and this time, Vietnam.

Secondly, lessons have been learned by all sides in navigating a nuclear crisis. Years of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula issue provide a template for negotiation.

Determination, patience and dialogue, not one less, all crucial for hope. It also suggests that it will take more than celebrity diplomacy and political reality show to strike a deal.

Thirdly, the world is changing fast. None of today's flashpoints can be isolated from the rest of the world.

As enthusiasm for Kim-Trump summit swept up Hanoi, the Washington showdown between Michael Cohen and his former employer and now the president of the United States was also taking place, even though the latter was far away in Southeast Asia with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

A deal on denuclearization could have helped the U.S. president back at home. You know it, I know it, and the people facing Trump sitting by the other side of the negotiation table also knew it, and probably only better.

The second Kim-Trump summit, without an agreement, when the curtains close on the big drama, and the heat of Hanoi is now replaced by the evening breeze, let's take a deep breath and be prepared as we need to when diving into the deep water zone in order to find a way out, out of this long-simmering crisis.

I am Tian Wei, from Hanoi.

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