Sides point fingers as N. Korea talks fail

HANOI, Vietnam — The United States and North Korea offered conflicting accounts and traded blame on Thursday after a second summit between President Donald Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ended abruptly without any agreement on nuclear disarmament or easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

“Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said at an afternoon news conference in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

He said Kim had offered to dismantle the North’s most important nuclear facility if the United States lifted the harsh sanctions imposed on his nation — but would not commit to do the same for other elements of its weapons program. That, Trump said, was a deal breaker.

“It was about the sanctions,” Trump said. “Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that.”

But in a late-night news conference, North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, contradicted Trump, saying the North had asked only for some sanctions to be lifted in exchange for “permanently and completely” dismantling the main facility in the presence of American experts.

“Given the current level of trust between North Korea and the United States, this was the maximum step for denuclearization we could offer,” Ri told reporters.

He added that the North’s position would not change. “This kind of opportunity may never come again,” he said.

The premature end to the negotiations leaves the unusual rapprochement between the United States and North Korea that has unfolded for most of a year at a deadlock, with the North retaining both its nuclear arsenal and facilities believed to be producing additional fissile material for warheads.

It also represents a major setback at a difficult political moment for Trump, who has long presented himself as a tough negotiator capable of bringing adversaries into a deal and had made North Korea the signature diplomatic initiative of his presidency.

Even as the talks began, Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, was delivering dramatic and damaging testimony in Congress, accusing him of an expansive pattern of lies and criminality.

Trump had flown across the world to try to work face-to-face with Kim for the second time, an effort to reduce what U.S. officials regard as the world’s foremost nuclear threat. Experts estimate that the North has 30 to 60 nuclear warheads as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles that can hit the United States, though it has not demonstrated the technology to protect warheads as they re-enter the atmosphere.

Before ending the news conference to fly back to Washington, Trump tried to put a good face on the outcome. “This wasn’t a walkaway like you get up and walk out,” he said. “No, this was very friendly. We shook hands.”

“There’s a warmth that we have and I hope that stays,” he added.

Trump said that Kim had pledged to maintain a halt on nuclear and ballistic missile tests that is now in its 16th month, and that the negotiations would continue. Ri confirmed the North would not resume testing.

But further progress could be difficult now that Trump has broadcast that he and Kim have staked out conflicting bottom lines.

On his flight leaving Hanoi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said officials had worked through the previous night and into the morning to come up with terms acceptable to both leaders.

“When you are dealing with a country that is of the nature of North Korea, it is often the case that only the most senior leaders have the capacity to make those important decisions,” he said.

“We’ll each need to regroup a little bit,” he added.