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AS IT IS
Without Nuclear Deal, What’s Next for US-North Korea
February 28, 2019
Artworks featuring U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are displayed at a gallery in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
American President Donald Trump says he walked away from a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam on Thursday.
Trump said Kim was only willing to give up North Korea’s main nuclear structure at Yongbyon -- and not complete denuclearization. In return, the North Korean leader demanded that all sanctions against his country be lifted.
Trump said, “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that.”
The United States and the United Nations had increased sanctions on North Korea in 2017, after the country carried out a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The measures have created economic difficulties for North Korea.
Hours after Trump left Hanoi, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said that North Korea had sought only a partial lifting of sanctions "related to people's livelihoods and unrelated to military sanctions."
A second official added that Kim “might lose his willingness to pursue a deal” after the U.S. rejected the offer.
South Korea’s presidential spokesman said in a statement, "(We) do feel regret that President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un could not reach complete agreement at today's summit. But it also appears that they have clearly made more meaningful progress than at any time in the past."
China’s foreign ministry spokesman said in his regular meeting with reporters Thursday, “the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue has been there for many years and cannot be resolved overnight without effort.”
He added that, “based on what we can see from the reports by far, the two sides may continue with their talks at the working level...”
Is Kim testing Trump?
There was hope of an agreement when the two leaders began their two-day meeting on Wednesday.
When a reporter asked Kim that day if he was ready to give up his nuclear weapons, the North Korean leader said, “If I’m not willing to do that, I won’t be here right now.”
The White House even scheduled a “joint agreement signing ceremony” at the end of the talks. The ceremony did not take place, as Trump quickly left Vietnam.
The first meeting between Trump and Kim, held in June in Singapore, produced a statement that North Korea would work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But little progress followed.
U.S. intelligence officials have recently said that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons. They say its leaders consider nuclear weapon to be critical to the ruling family’s survival.
Daniel Russel is a former top State Department diplomat for East Asia. He told the Reuters news agency, “Kim Jong-un is not testing ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs at the moment, but he is testing Donald Trump.”
Russel added that, given Trump’s troubles in the United States, Kim may have been trying to see if Trump was “desperate enough to take any deal he could get.”
As the two leaders were meeting in Hanoi, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, appeared before Congress and accused the president of several wrongdoings.
Working level talks
After last year’s Singapore summit, U.S. negotiators had difficulties trying to meet with the North Koreans.
On Thursday, U.S. Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter, “The lack of working-level talks in the lead up to the Hanoi Summit undermined the chances of reaching a successful deal.”
Russel agreed that without working-level talks, it is harder for the two the two leaders to reach a deal. He said, “At this point it will be no easy matter to persuade North Korea to move quickly, to deal with U.S. negotiators rather than with Trump directly, or to accept that its entire nuclear and missile program must be on the table.”
Kyle Ferrier is director of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute. He said, “By walking away from the table, Trump is effectively signaling to North Korea that they will have to deal more with Steve Biegun,” the U.S. special envoy for North Korea.
Ferrier added, “What is needed now are small steps to keep the diplomatic momentum going.”
I'm Caty Weaver.
Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on Reuters, Associated Press and VOA news reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
sanction - n. an action that is taken to force a country to obey international laws by limiting trade or economic activity
entirety - n. the whole or total amount of something
peninsula - n a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water and is attached to a larger area of land
ballistic missile - n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance
desperate - adj. having a strong need or desire to do something
undermine - v. to make something less effective
on the table - phrase, to be available or put forward
momentum - n. the strength or force that allows something to continue
AS IT IS
Global Study Finds Lack of Confidence in US Leadership
February 28, 2019
FILE- Leaders pose during the photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. Front left, China's President Xi Jinping. Rear center and right, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump.
A new study by Gallup shows fewer people believe in American leadership around the world. With only 31 percent approval, the United States' rating is lower than Germany and China -- and in a tie with Russia.
It shows international views of American leadership remained about the same in the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency. It dropped 18 points during Trump’s first year.
Gallup has been carrying out the research since 2007. The 2018 study was released Thursday. It examined the answers of people from 133 countries.
The report suggests that people around the world no longer believe in America’s international commitments. It says “the unpredictability of the U.S. president in now somewhat expected.”
Both China and Russia gained in the new study. China’s median approval rating rose to 34 percent and Russia’s rating reached 30 percent. Russia and China’s approval ratings increased in nations where the U.S. decreased, including Mexico and Turkey.
Germany received the highest median approval rating, at 39 percent. But it was Germany’s first rating below 40 percent in ten years.
Jon Clifton is Gallup’s Global Managing Partner. He said in the report that Trump’s “America First” policy was not winning friends around the world. It also said that Trump has taken many unpopular decisions since he took office. These include pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal. It also includes Trump’s trade wars with Europe and China.
Clifton said that the effects of Trump’s actions will hurt American interests abroad. He pointed to research from Dartmouth College and the University of Sydney that found “public opinion about U.S. foreign policy in foreign countries does affect their policies toward the U.S.”
In Europe
The report said the U.S.'s leadership image is very poor in Europe. Its disapproval rating was 59 percent, up three points from 2017.
While Europeans’ view of American leadership was low, their view of Russian leadership was even lower, at 21 percent. They equally disliked the leadership of Russia and the United States. Nearly six in 10 Europeans disapproved of the leadership of the two countries.
Europeans had the highest rating for Germany’s leadership, with 56 percent approving.
In the Americas
The U.S. leadership rating increased in the Americas from 24 percent to 31 percent. Last year, the U.S. renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Those two countries had two of the highest disapproval numbers for American leadership. Seventy-nine percent of Canadians and 74 percent of Mexicans disapproved of U.S. leadership in 2018.
The approval numbers for the U.S., Germany, China and Russia, were roughly the same in the Americas. But the disapproval rating for the United States at 53 percent was much higher than the other countries.
In Asia
In Asia, the approval of U.S. leadership increased slightly since last year, but it was still very low at 32 percent. The majorities of just five countries, Israel, the Philippines, Mongolia, Nepal and Myanmar, approved of American leadership.
Gallup said the two things that probably hurt the U.S. image most in the region were the trade war with China and the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
China’s approval rating was only a little higher at 34 percent. Russia came in at 32 and Germany at 36.
In Africa
American image was strongest in Africa, the Gallup study said. More than half of Africans in the study viewed American leadership favorably.
The countries with the most favorable view of the leadership of the United States were Togo, Guinea, Niger and Ghana. Africans also had a favorable view of China, which has invested heavily in the continent.
I'm Susan Shand.
VOA News reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
median – adj. the middle value in a series of values arranged from smallest to largest
accord - n. an agreement
favorably - adv. with approval
AS IT IS
Mobile Phone Internet Bringing Fast Changes to Cuba
February 28, 2019
A man holds his phone showing the app "Sube," a ride-hailing app for the aging American sedans on the streets of Havana, in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019.
After a tornado struck Havana last month, Mijail Ramirez wrote on Twitter that Cuban officials were threatening to force him from his damaged home. A week later, he said the government had changed its mind and would help him rebuild the home.
Cuban citizen Jorge Luis Leon sent a message to the official Twitter account of a Cuban vice president asking that hospital waiting rooms have seating for family members.
And, a group of young people launched “Sube,” a ride-requesting app for the aging American vehicles that can be seen on the streets of Havana each day.
It has been over two months since Cuban officials announced that the country’s citizens could fully use the internet on their mobile phones. Today, internet-connected Cubans are doing everything from questioning government officials to posting pictures of dirty bathrooms.
In the process, they are bringing their country -- once one of the least-connected places in the world -- into the digital age.
Fast-moving changes are small but noticeable.
“Life has changed,” said 25-year-old Alberto Cabrera, who is part of the team that developed the Sube app. “You see it when you walk down the street. The other day, looking from the roof of my house I could see that a neighbor had mobile internet service, as did the person in front and the person beyond him. You never saw that before.”
A recent government report says about 6.4 million of Cuba’s 11 million people are using the internet and social media.
In the past, most Cubans could use their mobile phones to link only to their state-run email accounts. They also could visit one of the few government-supported Wi-Fi areas on the island.
Claudia Cuevas is a 26-year-old university professor and a member of the Sube team. She said, “Before you went to the park (with Wi-Fi zones) once a week to communicate with your family.”
The history of the internet in Cuba has been filled with tensions and suspicions since the 1990s. Cuba’s government accused the United States of blocking its access to the fiber optic cables near the island. Cuba said, as a result, it was forced it to use a costly and slow satellite service. In 2011, Cuba got access to a submarine cable with the help of Venezuela. Then, in 2015, the general public in Cuba gained access through the opening of Wi-Fi points in hundreds of parks.
Critics of the government said it resisted giving Cubans free access to the internet because it feared a free flow of information. Government supporters said it was fighting efforts by the U.S. to weaken Cuba’s political system.
Harold Cardenas is a Cuban blogger and Cuba expert who now lives in the United States. He said, “For a while, the internet generated fear among Cuba’s leaders and there was a long wait.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel opened a Twitter account last year. He recently ordered all of his ministers and other top officials to do the same. But many of them do not provide their own content or answer citizens’ questions. They only retweet official messages or propaganda.
Diaz-Canel has repeated the importance of the internet. He says Cuban officials are working on websites and tools to help provide online government services. Such tools could make it easier for a citizen to request birth certificates or complete a government form.
Cubans are growing more skilled and more interested in internet use. This was made clear by the online reaction to the tornado in late January. Citizens used Facebook and Twitter to give and gather reports on damage and organize support.
Claudia Cuevas, the university professor, said the combination of internet access and social media “is a channel that people can use to say things as they are directly: ‘We need this or this is happening.’ It cannot be blocked and people must see it as a way to express themselves and say what they think.”
I'm Ashley Thompson.
And I'm Caty Weaver.
The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
tornado - n. a violent and destructive storm in which powerful winds move around a central point
app - n. a computer program that performs a special function
roof - n. the cover or top of a building, vehicle, etc.
fiber optics - n. thin threads of glass or plastic to carry large amounts of information in the form of light signals
access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone
AS IT IS
Vietnam Sees Upside to Summit's Media Invasion
February 28, 2019
In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019 photo, journalists gather outside Metropole hotel where U.S President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are to have their meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
This week, Vietnam welcomed more than 2,600 reporters from around the world for one of the biggest news stories of the year. Its capital city, Hanoi, hosted the second meeting between American President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The summit ended earlier than planned on Thursday, after the two leaders failed to reach a deal on U.S. economic restrictions and the North’s nuclear activities.
But officials in Vietnam hope the week’s media attention can help improve their country’s image. They want to see an increase in visitors and investment. And they aim to show the country as a member in good standing with the international community.
Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung told city residents to be on their best behavior, noting the large presence of foreign reporters. In a message on the city’s website, the mayor urged citizens to “heighten the image of civilized, elegant, friendly and hospitable Vietnamese people and Hanoi residents in the eyes of international press and friends.”
He also asked business owners to not increase prices of goods and services during the summit.
Little could be done about Hanoi’s traffic, however. Robert Costantini, who reports from the White House for an American radio news network, said it was like nothing he had experienced before.
He said, “All the people on motorbikes, and the bus will turn in front of them, and then they stop and try to squeeze through. It’s just amazing visually for me.”
Getting around in Hanoi is very different than in the “very rigid and disciplinedsociety” of Singapore at the first Trump-Kim summit, Costantini added.
Many reporters also noted the high levels of security during the summit. In fact, they said the strict security sometimes made it hard to do their jobs.
Kim’s travel plans are almost always kept secret. But, getting any information connected to Kim’s activities was harder in Vietnam than it was last year in Singapore.
Peter Wang works for Taiwan’s Eastern Broadcasting Company. He said in Singapore, reporters were able to learn of some of Kim’s personal activities in advance. But, in Vietnam “it’s very hard. They blocked the road a couple blocks away and police are very strict.”
A group of American reporters got a clear understanding of Vietnam’s focus on security over media access just before the two leaders arrived in town. White House reporters were forced to leave their established work area at the Melia Hotel after last-minute word that Kim would be staying there. Their ouster reportedly came at the request of North Korean representatives.
The United States also restricted press access during the summit. It blocked four print reporters -- including one from The Associated Press -- from covering the start of Trump and Kim’s dinner in Hanoi on Wednesday. The move came after two of the reporters asked questions of the president during earlier events at the summit.
I’m Jonathan Evans.
The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in This Story
host - v. to be the host for (a social event, a group of people, etc.) host - n. a place or organization that provides the things that are needed for a particular event
mayor - n. an official who is elected to be the head of the government of a city or town
residents - n. people who live in a particular place
elegant - adj. showing good taste : graceful and attractive
squeeze - v. to move into or through a small or crowded space
rigid - adj. not easily changed
disciplined - adj. related to having rules or orders that must be obeyed and punishing bad behavior
strict - adj. used to describe a command, rule, etc., that must be obeyed
access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone