With only two days left until the second Kim-Trump summit, U.S. Special representative for U.S. affairs, Stephen Biegun and North Korea's top negotiator, Kim Hyok-chol are expected to start or have already started drawing up the Hanoi Joint Declaration that will be released after the summit.
They have been meeting every day since last Thursday, and the hours a day they have been meeting has been decreasing - over 7 hours on Friday to just 2 hours thirty minutes on Sunday.
According to experts, the main points of contention are understood to include Pyeongyang's dismantlement of its nuclear facility at Yeongbyeon, a declaration to end the Korean War, and allowing inter-Korean economic exchanges.
The North Korean leader is on his way to the Vietnamese capital for his second face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump.
His train is said to have passed through the Chinese town of Changsha this afternoon, and he is expected to get off the train once he crosses the border into Vietnam.
Once he gets into Vietnam, Kim Jong-un will have some time on his way to Hanoi to visit a few key places.
There's speculation as well that he could visit Hai Phong,the port city which is home to some South Korean companies, including LG Electronics.
President Trump, on the other hand, will set off for Hanoi on Monday morning, Washington time.
And he will arrive in the city around Tuesday afternoon.
Speaking to his top aides during a weekly meeting on Monday, President Moon Jae-in wished for a successful Kim-Trump summit, and reminded the people once again that Korea is the masters of our own fate on the Peninsula.
Earlier presidential spokesperson said North Korea and the U.S. may strike a deal on declaring an end to Korean War this week in Hanoi.
Leaving the door open for possibilities-- he said the leaders of the two sides may reach a deal on the declaration of war's end at any degree.
And the leaders of Seoul and Washington have promised to keep in close contact, with presidents Moon and Trump having promised to share and discuss the outcome of the summit this week.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that he would extend the March 1st deadline that would see an increase in tariffs on Chinese imports, citing substantial progress in recent trade talks.
He has made positive comments over the third round of U.S.-China high level talks that took place in Washington.
The talks ran from Thursday to Sunday after being extended for an extra two days, and covered intellectual property protection, technology transfers, currency and other issues.
Experts say, the delay is likely to calm volatile financial markets.
Meanwhile, China also expressed optimism over the trade talks.
China's Xinhua News Agency said "substantial" progress was made on "specific issues" at the latest round of trade talks.
In his Sunday tweet, President Trump also said he looks forward to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida next month to conclude a trade agreement assuming both sides make additional progress.
Source: Arirang News
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