Donald Trump meets with Kim Jong-un for second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam

Kim Jong-un is already calling the shots in Vietnam, making a number of ridiculous demands ahead of his meeting with Donald Trump.

Evidently Kim Jong-un isn’t the easiest person to travel with.

The North Korean leader, who has arrived in Vietnam for his second meeting with US President Donald Trump, has reportedly already turned aspects of the much-anticipated summit inside out.

According to CNN reporter Will Ripley, the US wanted the summit to be held in Da Nang, which already had secret service clearance for APEC.

But Mr Kim insisted it be held in the country’s capital of Hanoi. He also insisted on taking an arduous 3200-kilometre train journey from Pyongyang to Vietnam — a trip that lasted two and a half days.

Flying would have been much shorter, of course, and would have caused far less disruption to Vietnam’s roads and rails.

Kim Jong Un continues calling the shots, whether in North Korea or Vietnam. The US wanted the summit in Da Nang, which already had secret service clearance for APEC, Kim wanted Hanoi. Flying would've caused far less rail & road disruption, Kim insisted on his train. Now this... https://t.co/iwCXCV1hTU

— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN) February 26, 2019

Likewise, Washington Post John Hudson reported an unexpected “logistic switch”.

He said Kim decided at the last minute that he didn’t want the American press filing centre to be at the Melia Hanoi Hotel, where the leader is staying, so the whole filing centre had to be moved.

This meant hundreds of chairs, tables and other equipment had to be abruptly removed and set up elsewhere at his request.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced the decision to relocate the US journalists, prompting a frustrated response from reporters:

Translation: The US press is being booted out of the hotel where we have spent days setting up our workspace. https://t.co/UkkmskqBQe

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 26, 2019

A lot of work had gone into setting up this media center. Send your regards to the advance team who had to waist their time on this: pic.twitter.com/r4hLX9PyCg

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) February 26, 2019

It was also reported that a North Korean official was demanding Vietnamese security and staff tell journalists in the lobby not to photograph Mr Kim or the scene around him.

Nearly 3000 foreign journalists are registered to cover the summit, according to MOFA

Mr Kim and Mr Trump are not expected to meet until later tonight.

The two leaders will participate in a “social dinner” in the city’s Metropole Hotel, joined by two guests and their respective interpreters. Before that, they are expected to have a 20-minute one-on-one conversation.

The high-stakes meeting will pick up where the Singapore summit last June left off, with the US likely to seek reassurances from North Korea that it is committed to denuclearisation.

Earlier, Mr Trump tweeted out against the Democrats, boasting of North Korea’s “AWESOME” potential to thrive:

Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon - Very Interesting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019

The Democrats should stop talking about what I should do with North Korea and ask themselves instead why they didn’t do “it” during eight years of the Obama Administration?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019

Mr Trump is not expected to meet Mr Kim face-to-face until around 6.30pm (10.30pm AEST).

TRUMP MEETS WITH VIETNAMESE LEADERS

Donald Trump has arrived at Vietnam’s Presidential Palace to meet with the country’s top officials.

He met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong for a photo op and a meeting, where he praised the “thriving” country and the ties between the two countries.

He also described Vietnam as a “good example of what could happen” if North Korea was to denuclearise.

“We (Trump and Kim) both felt very good about having this very important summit in Vietnam because you really are a good example of what can happen,” he told Vietnamese officials. He also said he was “very proud” of what Vietnam had accomplished economically.

President Donald Trump meets Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi.

Mr Trump later joined Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and the pair walked past a line of young children waving US and Vietnamese flags.

At one point, Mr Trump stopped and smiled at the children, before waving the flags at the camera.

Sitting down for bilateral talks, the two leaders congratulated each other’s economic performance.

Mr Trump credited Vietnam’s “tremendous progress” under Mr Nguyen, since he last visited the country in 2017. He also praised its military equipment.

BIZARRE SHIPMENT BOUND FOR NORTH KOREA

On the eve of the Hanoi summit, Dutch authorities stumbled upon a container of 90,000 bottles of vodka believed to be destined for North Korea.

Dutch authorities stumbled upon a container of 90,000 bottles of vodka believed to be destined for North Korea.

A total of 3000 cases of vodka were found by officers at the port of Rotterdam aboard a ship owned by China’s Cosco Shipping.

“It’s an incredible story — it’s like something you read in a thriller,” customs agency spokesman Roul Velleman told AFP.

“Sources indicated to us that a container was destined for North Korea. That was reason enough for us to act,” Mr Velleman added.

Now that’s a lot of martinis.

Dutch newspaper AD said the vodka was believed to be destined for Mr Kim and his top generals, but Mr Velleman declined to confirm this.

However, it would be especially significant given the hermit country has been slapped with a number of international sanctions, which include a ban on the import of certain luxury goods.

According to Dutch Foreign Affairs minister Sigrid Kaag, those sanctions were the reason for this particular seizure.

“The Security Council of the United Nations has imposed clear sanctions on North Korea, so it is important to enforce those sanctions,” she said in a statement.

“The sanctions also govern the import of luxury goods and so customs was completely justified in unloading that container.”

North Korea is seeking an end to the crippling economic sanctions imposed on the hermit regime by the United States and the United Nations.

The US, in turn, is seeking reassurance that North Korea is still committed to its pledge to eliminate all of its weapons of mass destruction programs, and to establish a road map that sets expectations for the process.

Pyongyang claims it has taken major steps towards denuclearisation, not testing any ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons for more than a year, and blowing up the entrances to its atomic test site.

North Korea has also long called for a peace deal with the US to normalise relations and end the technical state of war that has existed since the 1950-1953 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.