In this Friday, March 1, 2019, photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong join hands during dinner in Hanoi, Vietnam. As Kim met with officials in Hanoi, the United States and North Korea have both been spinning their versions of what happened during one of the most high-profile diplomatic collapses in recent years. Despite a senior North Korean official’s suggestion — in a rushed, middle-of-the-night news conference called to dispute Trump’s version of the summit’s end — that Kim may have “lost the will” for diplomacy, the North Korean leader seems to have emerged from the diplomatic wreckage as a winner. Trump maintained ahead of the Hanoi summit that the economic benefits of a deal could push Kim to give up his nuclear ambitions. Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam, contributed to this report.

Source: Washington Post March 02, 2019 03:02 UTC