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As it happenedended

Trump-Kim summit: US president blames failure of talks on North Korea's demand for sanctions to be dropped

Follow the latest updates on the historic meeting

'Speed is not that important to me' Kim Jong Un listens as Trump says he's in 'no rush' over North Korea denuclearisation deal

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Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have cut short their talks in Hanoi, Vietnam and skipped a scheduled lunch event.

The White House confirmed the summit had ended with “no agreement reached” as the leaders headed back to their respective hotels.

The US president talks broke down over North Korea’s demands on US-led sanctions.

“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that,” he told reporters. “Sometimes you have to walk.”

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said negotiations would continue at a future date.

Several Democrats came out acknowledging Mr Trump’s decision to walk away without a deal was the right move in this situation. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said walking away with no deal was better than agreeing to a bad deal, before adding that it was “the result of a poorly planned strategy.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed similar statements, citing his concerns about the likelihood of a bad deal forming out of the summit.

“A deal that fell short of complete denuclearization would have only made North Korea stronger & the world less safe,” Mr Schumer said.

After the summit, Mr Trump also defended Mr Kim over the tragic death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed in North Korea in December 2015 for attempting to steal propaganda material during an organised tour.The president said he does not believe the autocratic leader was aware of Mr Warmbier’s condition in the North Korean hard labour prison camp.

"He tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,” Mr Trump said.

After two years of imprisonment, North Korean authorities returned Mr Warbier to the US in a coma in July 2017. A few days later, the 22-year-old died in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman criticised the American president’s defense of Mr Kim.

“I’m very concerned that the President didn’t seem to be all that concerned about the murder of Otto Warmbier from Cincinnati,” Mr Brown told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know how he says he likes the dictator of NK so much.”

Mr Portman insists that Mr Trump and the American people must remember Mr Warmbier and that “we should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him."

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CNN is reporting security activity outside of the Metropole Hotel where Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are expected to meet on Thursday. 

Officials are sweeping the area for mines, the news outlet reported, reviewing the hotel’s courtyard for unexploded ordnances. 

Reporters took photos of two military personnel standing on a grassy patch and observing a tool used to detect mines. 

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 17:34

A barber in Hanoi, Vietnam, is offering customers Donald Trump- and Kim Jong-un- inspired hairdos ahead of the summit set to take place between the president of the United States and the North Korean leader this week.

The haircuts are being offered at Tuan Duong Beauty Academy in the Vietnamese capitol, the Associated Press reports - and they are free.

To achieve the President Trump look, customers undergo hair-bleaching to mimic the yellow-orange blonde seen on the US leader.

Those opting for the Kim Jong-un option have the sides of their hair buzzed short, with the hair on top kept long and shaped into a square-like shape. 

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 17:40

Financial markets are unlikely to react much to the summit between Trump and Kim, according to a research note by Robert Carnell, ING’s chief economist for the Asia-Pacific.

“We may (who knows) see a historic ending of the state of war between the two Koreas, but that has been a paper war for decades,” Carnell wrote.

“We may get some further offers to denuclearize, but I think we already had this, so what would be new? And there may be some carrot of sanctions removal from the U.S., though no doubt contingent on further progress. 

Reuters

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 18:00

Kim Jong Un’s jogging bodyguards — who follow his motorcade during his trips — have made an appearance in Hanoi. Here’s footage below:

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 18:15

A pool photo shows Donald Trump’s motorcade making its way through Hanoi earlier en route to the president’s hotel, where he is expected to enjoy a leisurely night before a day of meetings and receptions before his Thursday summit with North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un. 

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 18:30

One possible concession that could be offered to North Korea at the summit is exempting South Korea from sanctions imposed on the North for pursing nuclear weapons, said Brian Meyers, a professor at South Korea’s Dongseo University.

“I urge everyone to focus less on the Pyongyang-Washington axis and more on the Pyongyang-Seoul axis because that’s where the action is,” Meyers said on the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

He said the key issue to be decided at the summit was whether the North would agree to close or allow monitoring of its Yongbyon nuclear facility. “This would not necessarily solve the problem of the North’s existing nukes but it would still be a significant enough concession to enable the Americans to loosen sanctions,” Meyers said.

Reuters

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 18:45

Donald Trump will dangle the possibility of North Korea becoming one of the world’s “great economic powers” during his Thursday summit with Kim Jong Un. 

The president has touted an easing of tensions along the Korean peninsula as progress in his denuclearization efforts, despite US intelligence officials refuting his claims the North is no longer a threat.

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 19:00

Here’s video of North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un waving hello to officials, photographers and crowds while arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam ahead of his summit with Donald Trump:

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 19:15

The two-day summit kicks off with a one-on-one meeting on Wednesday between the two leaders, followed by dinner with aides. A series of meetings between the two sides will be held on Thursday.

Kim arrived earlier in the day after a two and a half-day train journey from Pyongyang and through China, and then a 170-km (105-mile) road journey from the Vietnamese border to Hanoi.

While there is no real expectation that the second meeting between the two will bring a final deal on ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons that threaten the United States, there are some hopes it could lead to a declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War is at last formally over.

Reuters

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 19:30

Reports are indicating the White House Press Corps — a rotating pool of journalists who follow the president throughout the course of his daily public schedule — was evicted from a Hanoi hotel in order to allow for North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un.

Chris Riotta26 February 2019 19:53

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