Trump Suggests Vietnam for 2nd Trump-Kim Summit in Mid-Feb 2019 But S’pore Not Completely Ruled Out Yet

The US Government is currently in partial shutdown due to a disagreement over the funding of the border wall, but over in Singapore, most of us are more concerned over another issue.

Would the next Trump-Kim Summit be held in Singapore…again?

The first Trump-Kim Summit was a historic moment for the world, and a historic one for Singapore: it put Singapore on the world map, and we’re so proud that something like this happened:

Despite costing SGD$16.3 million to host, the media publicity outweighs the cost, possibly gaining SGD$767 million in “ad value”.

And we’ve yet to include the spending by journalists and tourists during the summit that would have provided even more revenue for Singapore.

Last week, it was revealed that the two shortlisted countries to hold the second summit are Vietnam and Singapore as both countries have North Korean embassies, and that Kim Jong Un’s plane could only fly a maximum of 10,000 km, so the meeting must be somewhere near North Korea.

Of course that led to NSmen (especially those in Home Team) wondering: would the summit be held during the CNY period? If so, would the US President come down to Singapore and thought, Hey, this country also shutdown ah, even the shops shutdown? Why here all so red compared to last time I was here?

There has been a new development and that should make our men in blue breathe a sigh of relief.

At least, temporarily.

Trump Suggests Holding the Summit in Vietnam in Mid-February

According to a report by a Japanese newspaper, US President Donald Trump has suggested holding the second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam in mid-February.

North Korea has reportedly receive the proposal and is currently reviewing it, but has yet to respond.

Vietnam has also reportedly expressed its interest to host the event in Da Nang, the fifth largest city in Vietnam and is listed as a “first-class city” (i.e. plays important roles in politics, economy and culture).

So what does this mean?

First of all, the dates seem to be locked in: mid-February 2019. This means it’s most likely going to be during the CNY period.

Secondly, chances of Singapore hosting the event are slightly lower, but not completely gone: the shortlisted countries are Vietnam and Singapore, and should North Korea rejects Vietnam, SPF NSmen, NSFs and Regulars would have to cut short whatever long holiday they’ve planned and come back to Singapore for yet another historic event.

And thirdly, nothing’s been confirmed. Remember how unlikely it was for Singapore to host the event last year, and eventually we became the talk of the world shortly?

Why a Second Summit?

Lest you’ve not been following the news, here’s what has happened since the first meeting.

Trump and Kim signed a rather ambiguous agreement to North Korea’s denuclearisation, and while there has been some progress, the threat isn’t completely gone: there has been a bit of back and forth on the denuclearisation deal, with the US wanting North Korea to take more concrete and tangible actions like submitting a list of its nuclear weapons while North Korea wants less sanctions.

And of course, you’ve got to wonder: why not just video conference or something like that?

But hey, we’re Goody Feed. How we know ah? Whether it’s for the optics or for a signing of a new, concrete agreement, we’ll only know after CNY.