Trump-Kim Summit in Hanoi: No Denuclearization Deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said he walked out of the second summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, widely known as the Hanoi Summit. Trump said the reason was because the two leaders could not agree to relieve U.S. sanctions to North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang abandoning the majority of its nuclear weapons program. Trump said that Kim wanted the sanctions lifted entirely, and U.S. could not grant that, although Kim had offered to dismantle its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

According to Trump, the U.S. presented Kim with evidence of additional secret nuclear sites which surprised the representatives of North Korea. Michael Pompeo, the Secretary of State, said that even without Yongbyon the country would still possess missiles, warheads, and other elements of a nuclear program that were unacceptable to the U.S. Although Trump claimed the meeting ended amicably with a handshake, he hasn't planned to do another summit with Kim.

Following the failure of the two leaders reaching an agreement in the Hanoi Summit, Won slipped 0.5 percent against the U.S. dollar. The Kospi index also plunged 1.8 percent on Thursday, making it the steepest decline since October 23 last year. Most believe the lack of positive result from the summit will last on the market briefly. After all, the Kospi has been one of the best performers in Asia in 2019, thanks to a rebound by Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.

Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities said, “The Kospi may come under short-term selling pressure, but Asia in general will likely be able to shrug this off.” Hiroaki Hiwada, a strategist at Toyo Securities Co. in Tokyo, agrees. “Once the news has been digested in the markets globally, Asian stock markets will likely shift the focus to developments in the U.S.-China trade talks."

Source :

Bloomberg