Why did the Hanoi Summit collapse?

Mohammed Al-Menshawi-Hanoi

Washington and Pyongyang have not agreed on a formula sought by Washington to fully disarm the Korean weapons in exchange for a full lifting of US sanctions.

The peace city of Hanoi, as its Vietnamese people call it, has not been joined by US and North Korean leaders who failed to reach an agreement formally ending or reducing hostility between the two countries.

President Donald Trump left early on his announcement from the White House in his official statement from Hanoi on Tuesday. The joint working lunch between the two delegations was canceled as scheduled, and President Trump's press conference was scheduled.

After an encouraging start in direct talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at the Sofitel Mitropole Hotel in the center of the Vietnamese capital, the negotiations entered a dark tunnel when the two sides touched on sensitive issues related to nuclear disarmament and lifting sanctions.

"It is not good at the moment to sign an agreement with North Korea," Trump said at a press conference before his departure. "North Korea wanted to lift the sanctions in its entirety and we could not do that. Areas, and that's not what we wanted. "

"We have made progress and asked the North Korean leader for more, and real progress can be made in the coming days on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who Trump told the news conference.

"North Korea wanted to lift the sanctions in its entirety and we could not do that," Pompeo said, as it did not agree to complete disarmament.

Shock in Vietnam
The Vietnamese, including the White House statement issued on Wednesday night, said the two presidents would witness the signing ceremony of a joint agreement between the two countries in the second and five minutes Hanoi time, but that did not happen.

Trump's early remarks during his brief and direct meeting with the North Korean leader this morning and before the start of the negotiating sessions between the two countries' delegations came as he was in no hurry to reach an agreement with North Korea over its nuclear program.

Trump, as he has said on many occasions, has speculated that his excellent personal relationship with the North Korean president would contribute to reducing and possibly ending the historic conflict between the two countries. Trump yesterday praised the relationship and said it could "contribute to solving a lot of issues."

The rare remarks by the North Korean leader have also left the observers puzzled, saying he would not have attended the Hanoi summit if he had not been willing to disarm.

In a rare interview in which he answered a number of questions by journalists, he said that opening an American liaison office in his country was welcome, and Trump immediately welcomed the North Korean leader's answers.

And the experts at the media center were delighted to cover the summit in Hanoi. We were hoping to sign a historic peace treaty here, but we will not be so disappointed that the city has made great efforts to help make the summit a success, "said Vietnamese journalist Fu Lan.

Intelligence Estimates
In testimony before the Senate at the end of last month, Daniel Coates, director of national intelligence agencies, said US intelligence estimates indicated that Pyongyang had not stopped its research and sought to develop its nuclear and missile programs.

He pointed out that the lack of confidence in Washington drives President Kim Jong-un not to give up his weapons, as "the North Korean regime will not completely dispose of nuclear weapons, which he deems necessary for his survival."

"Whoever imagines the possibility of signing a peace agreement is more important, because Kim Jong-un will not give up his deterrent weapons," wrote an Asia expert at the America's conservative and Republican Institute of America, the New York Times. "He will ask Washington to make more concessions that were rejected by President Trump In dealing with the North Korean file, "which it was.