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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi, Vietnam, Saturday. During his last day in Hanoi, laid large red-and-yellow wreaths at the war memorial and at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, dedicated to the modern nation's founder, as he continued a "friendly" state visit meant to cement his image as a confident world leader after his summit with President Donald Trump failed to produce a breakthrough in denuclearization talks. AP |
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends wreath laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, Saturday. Reuters |
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi, Vietnam, Saturday. EPA |
By Park Si-soo
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrapped up his five-day visit to Vietnam, Saturday, after failing to reach a much-anticipated denuclearization deal with U.S. President Donald Trump.
At the last event on his schedule, Kim paid tribute at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum at 9 a.m. before heading to the Dong Dang Railway Station on the Vietnamese border, where he boarded his special train and embarked on the 3,800-kimoleter trip to North Korea's capital of Pyongyang. If the train follows the same route and at the same speed as it did traveling to Vietnam, Kim's trip could take more than 60 hours.
It is not clear yet whether the North Korean leader will stop over in Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the outcome of his summit with Trump. The second Kim-Trump summit, held in Hanoi Feb. 27 and 28, ended abruptly without an agreement, to the dismay of people who had expected it would produce a binding diplomatic resolution ending the North's nuclear and missile programs. The failure is also considered to have dealt a blow to Kim's political leadership.
For now, both sides appear to be passing the buck for the failure ― Trump claims Kim demanded too much, while Kim says vice versa.
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| A train which will transport North Korean leader Kim Jong-un back to North Korea is seen at Dong Dang Railway Station in Vietnam, Saturday. Reuters |
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| A North Korean bodyguard stands in front of a train at Dong Dang Railway Station on the border between Vietnam and China, Saturday. The train will take North Korean leader Kim Jong-un back to Pyongyang following his abortive summit with U.S. President Donald Trump held in Hanoi. Reuters |
One of a few achievements Kim made during the visit was reaffirming close ties between the North and Vietnam. In meetings with top officials there, including Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Kim expressed the hope for stepped-up cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in all areas and for the upgrading of bilateral ties, according to Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency, Saturday.
Kim was the first North Korean leader in 55 years to visit Vietnam following his late grandfather and nation founder, Kim Il-sung, who traveled there in 1958 and 1964.
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| Local residents wave North Korean and Vietnamese flags as they wait for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's arrival at Dong Dang Railway Station on the border with China. Reuters |
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| Members of the media wait for the arrival of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Dong Dang Railway Station on Vietnam's border with China, Saturday, from where his train will depart for Pyongyang. Reuters |
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