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Before second Kim-Trump Summit, what North Korea could learn from Vietnam

The Asian tiger would be an especially apt model for Kim Jong Un to emulate, and not for the obvious reasons

trump, kim jong un, singapore summit, trump kim
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US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Singapore summit| Photo: Reuters

Michael Schuman | Bloomberg
Vietnam is more than a convenient neutral site for the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, which is slated for later this month. The Southeast Asian nation is being held up as a model for what Kim’s isolated country could become if he adopts sweeping market reforms. It’s an especially apt comparison, one which Kim himself reportedly noted last year -- but not necessarily for the reasons you might think.

The choice facing Kim at the Hanoi summit is the same as it’s always been: weapons or wealth. The U.S. has long offered