U.S. President Donald Trump (R) holds a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi on Feb. 28, 2019. The pair's meeting might have collapsed, but that doesn't entail that their ties will as well.
Editor's Note : This assessment is part of a series of analyses supporting Stratfor's upcoming 2019 Second-Quarter Forecast. These assessments are designed to provide more context and in-depth analysis on key developments over the next quarter . Hopes of a breakthrough abounded as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went to Hanoi, Vietnam, for a second landmark summit, but the two heads of state are returning home without a deal. Speaking after the cancellation of their working lunch on Feb. 28, Trump said Kim had requested that Washington lift sanctions "in their entirety" but that it would be inappropriate for the United States to sign off on a deal, leading Washington to "walk away.
