US-N Korea summit: Trump to leave for Hanoi on Monday

US President Donald Trump has said that he will depart for Hanoi on Monday for his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore," Trump tweeted on Sunday.

Trump hailed his "great relationship" with Kim, adding that North Korea could "fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World" in the absence of nuclear weapons, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim left Pyongyang on Saturday afternoon by train for Hanoi for the second US-N Korea summit.

Trump told the press last week that his trip to Vietnam would be "very successful," anticipating his two-day meeting with Kim would "accomplish a lot."

Trump's first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June last year resulted in improved US-N Korea relations.

However, differences on such key issues as a roadmap for denuclearisation, the lifting of sanctions and whether to issue a war-ending declaration still hinder negotiations.

--IANS

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