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Mongolia|politics|April 19, 2018 / 10:46 AM
Trump-Kim meeting might take place in Mongolia

AKIPRESS.COM - Venue of possible Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meeting remains an open question.

Since taking power in 2011, Mr. Kim is not known to have flown outside his country, and the question of his transportation adds a layer of political complications to a fraught and uncertain summit meeting. Sitting leaders of the two countries have never met.

In theory, a neutral location like Sweden or Switzerland would be ideal. Both maintain diplomatic relations with the United States and North Korea and have signaled a willingness to facilitate the meeting. 

A venue in Asia might be the easiest compromise. It frees Mr. Kim from the political headache of traveling by plane and keeps Mr. Trump away from North Korea. Vietnam and Singapore are being considered rather than more obvious choices like China or Japan, New York Times reported.

China is politically problematic because of the rocky relationship between Mr. Trump and Beijing. Japan is not an option given its longstanding historical tensions with North Korea. Russia presents a similar problem to China.

A long shot, Mongolia, could serve all parties, and its government has offered to play host to the meeting in its capital of Ulaanbaator.

“At least politically, the easiest place for everyone would be Mongolia and Ulaanbaator,” Mr. Joel S. Wit, a senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said, “because the Mongolians like to think of themselves as the Switzerland of Asia.”

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