A North Korean View On Why The Hanoi Summit With The U.S. Failed

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump before their meeting during the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. Reuters/Leah Millis

SCMP: Kim Jong-un ‘was shocked’ by new US list of undisclosed nuclear facilities at Hanoi summit

* North Korean affairs expert Zhang Liangui tells forum the talks broke down because Washington changed its negotiating position at the last minute
* Pyongyang ‘felt its expectations would not be met’, he says

The Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump collapsed mainly because the US changed its negotiating position at the last minute, according to a Chinese expert on North Korean affairs.

Zhang Liangui, a professor of international strategic research at the Central Party School, said Kim was “shocked” at the talks in February when the US presented him with a new list of nuclear facilities that had not been disclosed by Pyongyang.

The Central Party School trains Communist Party cadres and is a think tank for top Chinese leaders.

Zhang said the new list meant the US required Pyongyang to dismantle all of its underground nuclear arms facilities. That was in addition to what had previously been discussed – destroying the plutonium and uranium-enrichment plants housed at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

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WNU Editor: An insight into why last month's U.S. - North Korea talks collapsed. On a positive note. In the future when the U.S. and North Korea sit down to negotiate a nuclear/sanctions deal, everything will be on the table.