un to beijing for these talks and it seems like kim jong un wants to include china now in its diplomatic offensive last year we saw north korea open up in an unprecedented way this year kim as you said in this new year's speech had extended yet another all of branch or a step towards peace two words the united states saying that they're willing to continue with talks they're willing to denuclearize nuclearize watts with conditions. interesting that before these. visits to china and the six years since kim jong un had been in power there were no visits as a whole and he is saying the right things about involving china in any talks on denuclearize ation so what volcker is china looking to play here. well china of course wants to be front and center with any moves between north korea and the us china has always been north korea's international face has always represented or been key to any negotiations with north korea so being left out in the cold last year was definitely something that frustrated china as being rather can join him coming to see this year while negotiations are in place be

it looks like kim jong—un for kimjong—un, it might be hanoi.d to give a statement in vietnam, so that might be a clue as to where the second summons might be. —— summit. also making news today: president trump has refused to grant the use of a military plane for the speaker of the house of representatives, effectively cancelling an overseas trip for his chief political opponent. mr trump said that the democrat nancy pelosi should stay in washington because of the government shutdown. mrs pelosi had planned to visit us troops in afghanistan and meet with nato allies. a car bomb has exploded at the national police academy in the colombian capital, bogota, killing nine people. local media say at least 50 more have been injured. initial reports indicate the car was driven at speed through the gates, and then exploded in a car park. the driver is believed to have been killed. president trump has announced plans to expand america's missile defence programme, including the creation of a layer of sensors in space. in the united states from all types of

this summit without kim jong—un taking some steps.mportant. we want that. but, you know, there'sjust very little movement on their part. and this is how they negotiate. i've negotiated with them for years. they want you to make the first move. they hold off, they dilly—dally, they pause, and then nothing happens. that's my worry about this summit so soon, in virtually six weeks. now, again, in your experience, of course, you've had so much experience in negotiating with the north koreans. this soft diplomacy, the showmanship, they like that. so maybe — who knows — maybe donald trump is doing the right thing. well, the north koreans love it because for years, the north koreans have said "we're the big players in asia." here." —— "you, the united states, and us — we should negotiate everything here." and kim jong—un can say to his people "i'm in summits with the president of the united states, i'm on the world stage. i'm a big shot." "yes, we have sanctions and a lot of countries are taking advantage of us and don't like us. but here i

a blunt in stinging message to kim jong regime.planned to move to new york city for a paid internship at a financial firm. he was in the new york university dorm and plan on pursuing a career after he graduated from the university of virginia. tragically he never made it. the 23-year-old spent the summer locked in a north korean prison cell and returned home to die. becoming a heartbreaking symbol of the brutality of the north korean regime. there is a dramatic plan to honor him. >> this'll be ingrained in the memory. >> java rally, republican of staten island once the street with the north korean mission to the united nations is located to be renamed sub 675 way in a blunt and reminder of his fate to the north korean diplomats. >> he represents everything we value and our freedom. we want people to look up and see the street sign and recall this was a life given out essentially in the face of an absolute dictator and authoritarian government. eric: 22 years old when a foreign study trip to the hermit kingdom only to return home wi

north korea, kim jong—un, have parts of it differently.ea, kimjong—un, have been saying thatitis korea, kimjong—un, have been saying that it is time for the us to offer sanctions and the us have been saying no, no, we need concrete proposals for you to be getting rid of your nuclear weapons. so there has been this 12 —— seven—month stare down when neither side has offered concessions. we'll have to wait and see what happens this weekend and if indeed, any second summit is to take place, what details they managed to pin down and stop right thank you very much for that. —— thank you very much for that. president trump has said he plans to expand missile defences in the us, including, he's suggested, creating a layer of sensors in space. his goal, he says, is to shield every american city from all types of missile attacks. we will terminate any missile launches from hostile powers, 01’ even from powers that make a mistake. it won't happen, regardless of the missile type or geographic origins of the attack. we will ensure that any missiles no

kim jong-un delivers a sanctions warning to president trump.will bring you all the details, next, and keep you updated on markets, although they are pretty thin for the first trading day of the year. this is bloomberg. ♪ haidi: it is 10:30 a.m. here in sydney. markets have been trading for about 30 minutes lab. -- now. pretty lackluster start. downside at 1/10 of 1%. gains in health care and materials. losses across financials and utilities. in the trading sessions. -- session. several markets still closed for the holidays. global equities ending out 2018 with a whimper. juliette: it is 6:30 p.m. in new york. s&p futures are looking like they could have positivity when they start 2019. have a look at the beautiful skyline there of new york after they heralded in the new year. we could see wall street open higher after it was the worst year for u.s. stocks since 2008. you are watching daybreak asia. let's get you the first word news. president has invited top to a whiteal leaders house briefing on border security after suggesting he wants to mak

trump met kim jong—un in singapore.ry large letter that he handed over from the north korean leader to the us president, so it may well be that these talks taking place in washington over the next couple of days are all about laying the groundwork for a second summit. we are also aware that there are talks taking place between the united states and north korea in sweden, so after a seven—month stalemate, there is now this kind of flurry of diplomatic activity. you're in the south korean capital, of course. this is not a man the south koreans are much going to want to see, is it? a controversialfigure. kim yong—chol is the former spymaster from pyongyang, and certainly, he is is thought to have ordered the torpedoing of a south korean warship. he is certainly a very controversial figure for the south koreans, but he has seemed to have emerged as this controversial figure when it comes to these talks over north korea's nuclear weapons, so yes, he is one of those figures where here in south korea they do raise eyebrows, al

the relations between the united states and north korea have been improving since june when kim jong un met with donald trump and singapore for an historic summit promised to work towards denuclearization in exchange for concessions from the united states and washington is yet to ease economic pressure on the young which is being hit hard by the sanctions regime during his speech kim jong un also called on south korea to end its joint military drills with the united states right let's pull this into context now we're joined by andrew young he's an independent china specialist welcome back to r.t. in some measures it was all quite measured words from kim jong un compared to some of the statements that have come out of north korea in the recent years so how serious would you take these warnings. well this is these warning must be seen in this plot a context i mean let's face it never before have you seen more career been warming up to south korea to such an extent i mean it to size on improving their relationships building up their view of egypt by leaps and bounds and both economicall

kim jong-un and his wife were shown boarding their bulletproon traiyongyang, accompanied by the usualng state media inmmentary. they arrived in beon mr. kim's birthday. china is unlikely to give him .any unpleasant surprises >> china won't encourage north korea to give up nuclear weapons. not necessarily sh north korea into a corner. john: why? >> because in the past year, china believed if the pressure is too high, that will be counterproductive. john: the u.s. has no such jalms. so kg-un's fourth visit to china sends a message -- it underlines the strength of the bond and shows that if the nuclear diplomacy with america uils, he has other options. preparations are nerway for a second trump-kim summit. mr. kim has made so far made few real concessions. north korea has long used its nuclear weapons to play big powers off against each other, precisely the reason, some argue, it is unlikely to ever give them up. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. laura: for more on kim's visite i sprlier with bruce klingner, former cia deputy korea who is now at the heritage foundation. kim jong-un is ge

>> reporter: tonight white house sources in korea and analysts are telling us they believe kim jong-unut how to play to president trump's ego and has now engaged in a full-on offensive with that. at the same time kim's regime has been leveling threats against the u.s.. it is a double game with enormous consequences. it just may be the oddest relationship in international relations, the american president repeatedly flattered by and flattering north korea's dictator kim jong-un. >> we're doing very well with north korea, and that's based on relationship also. >> reporter: trump's positive mention of his relationship with kim jong-un today came only 48 hours after the president showed off the latest personal letter he got from the north korean dictator. >> and they've never written letters like that. this letter is a great letter. >> reporter: sources familiar with the contents of kim's letter tell cnn it was, quote, predictably effusive. the view of some in the administration, cnn is told, is that kim sends letters to trump to appeal to his ego and to keep trump enthusiastic about their

china inviting kim jong—un jong—un for that fourth summit.iting kimjong—un to come to see president xijinping. so lies pictures there this imminent visit. this will be a three—day visit and he will be arriving on board his arm and train, apparently, accompanied by officials and also his wife. of course, there is a lot of speculation as to whether this will bea speculation as to whether this will be a prelude to the summit that will be a prelude to the summit that will be taking place donald trump, and yes, a lot of talk where that summit will be. —— armoured. we are expecting kim jong—un to arrive in beijing shortly. actor kevin spacey appeared in court on the island of nantucket today, charged with sexually assaulting an 18—year—old man in a bar there in 2016. the oscar winner and house of cards star said nothing but was given bail, and lawyers entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant was in the courtroom, and has this report. this was a journey kevin spacey didn't want to make. touching down on

and i mean this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up in the program north korean leader kim jong un wraps up a visit to china that was seen as preparation for his next summit with donald trump . an opposition leader in the democratic republic of congo demands the results of the presidential election be published after another delay. and from flexible t.v. screens to intelligent household devices we check out the latest patch to the consumer electronics show. so then president donald trump has put his case for a border wall directly to the american people in a televised address the democrats in congress to approve funding for the project and end the standoff which is shut down parts of the government for almost three weeks mike hanna has more now from washington. the deadlock between congress and the white house continues democrats refusing to provide funding for a wall on the southern border president trump adamant he will not accept any budget bill that doesn't this is a humanitarian crisis a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul the facts though do not support the conten

we made a lot of progress with north korea and kim jong-un. had -- we established a very good relationship. a lot of good things are happening. >> it's unclear when or where the president and kim jong-un will meet again, if they meet again. they last met in june at the summit in singapore where they agreed to the broad outlines of a way to get north korea to give up their nuclear weapons program. implementing that has been a challenge as north korea has not shown any significant sign that they're dismantling their nuclear program and ballistic missile program. officials do point out though that over the past year in fact longer than that north korea has refrained from launching missiles or exploding nuclear weapons. the south korean government says it also received a letter from kim jong-un, the president there, and the two want more meetings in 2019, trace. >> trace: rich, kim jong-un has a habit of sending mixed messages and he's still committed to his agreement with the president, right? >> that's right. he says in this address that kim jon

that won't happen until kim jong—un that is bit of a departure. way back home. law in the south korean capital, an historic summit. all this is bound to fuel speculation of another summit with president trump. yes, last year, when kim jong—un travelled to china, they did so ahead of these big summits, firstly the summit with president moon jae—in and then donald trump. when it comes to that second potential summit between the united states and north korea... not having much luck with our connections on the satellite. i don't know if we can getjohn back. satellite. i don't know if we can get john back. i am still with you, if you can hear me. i think that technology is allowing that. maybe we will know china, north korea's main ally, this is absolutely a crucial relationship. i suppose it may be significant that kim jong—un has gone into celebrities but they. depending on who you asked. north korea and china co—ordinating their strategy. kim jong-un paying homage to the chinese leader. summoned to the capital. more accurately, intentionally or not,

had said that they wanted concrete actions then in recent weeks kim jong un had said that they would start we started their new nuclear program because they weren't seeing enough of an overture from the united states but then on january first and germans near days.

president trump waves what he calls a great letter from kim jong-un, saying he has a great relationship with the north korean dictator, even as kim issues a new threat to the united states. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news with the government shutdown now in its 12th day and in a new year, the president has just met with congressional leaders over at the white house. democrats emerged moments ago, saying he refused to support measures to open the government, vowing to move ahead on their own. that comes after the president took a tough line at an earlier cabinet meeting, saying he would keep the government closed for as long as it takes without saying what it would take for him to budge on funding for his border wall. i'll speak with senator chris coons of the judiciary and foreign relations committees, and our correspondents and analysts have full coverage of the day's top stories. first, let's go straight to our white house correspondent, kaitlan collins. the president talking tough as he met with congressional leaders.

zero in life for my headquarters in doha but me and it's ron i'm also ahead north korean leader kim jong un travels to beijing ahead of a possible second summit with president trump. turkey's president says the white house has made a serious mistake suggesting it will protect the kurds after a syria also by the u.s. on board toss with resolve in the blockade of qatar has resigned. u.s. president dollar trump has made his first oval office address to the nation it was a harsh leewood a speech criticizing democrats for failing to fund the war he wants to build along the us mexico border and painting illegal immigration as an almost existential threat to the united states let's go now to our correspondent mike hanna he's joining us live from washington d.c. there was a lot of attention on this mike being trans first oval office address to the nation it was billed as a big deal did it live up to those expectations. well most observers believe that it did not leave president trump out of that within the last half hour he has been tweeting self-congratulatory tweets he says thank you so many n

others say mongolia or perhaps here at the demilitarised zone that kim jong—un met president moonjae—inbe what progress can be made with a second summit and where is the current progress? some people will say we've gotten everywhere in the last year. kim jong—un has met with moonjae—in and donald trump and president xi, he stepped onto the global platform and engaging with the international community but it depends where you put that progress gauge. no nuclear weapons have changed hands, there is know that north korea is going to give up any of its nuclear weapons and it seems to be dictating the terms by which to negotiate. if you are looking at that site —— that site in the united states said they wa nted site in the united states said they wanted a complete irreversible bald —— irreversible denuclearisation, that won't happen, but the meeting itself could be seen as progress. actor kevin spacey appeared in court on the island of nantucket today — charged with sexually assaulting an 18—year—old man in a bar there in 2016. the oscar—winner and house of cards star said nothing — but was

from around the globe also on the program a new year's warning from north korea a supreme leader kim jong un says go on the young will change course on denuclearize ation if u.s. sanctions against his country continue. i'm going where no probe has gone before nasa says its ultimate tool a spacecraft has thrown as flown past the most distant celestial body ever studied . i'm phil girl welcome to the program. as the clock moves around the time zones around the last parts of the world ringing in twenty nine say the new year is officially underway from east to west revelers have been celebrating with music dancing and dazzling fireworks displays so let's take a look at some of the highlights. for millions of people around the globe the last moments of twenty eight thousand were spent holding their breath then as the clock struck midnight the show began. from kuala lumpur to sydney. to hong kong. hours later twenty one thousand came to pakistan. then to dubai. the home of the world's tallest skyscraper the board khalifa. and on to the lebanese capital beirut. one of the largest new year's eve

thank you so much and happy new year. >> you too. >>> kim jong-un is using strategy of writing these letters to president trump, but they often contrast with north korea's public statements. is kim just pushing trump's b t buttons? here's brian todd. >> reporter: it just may be the oddest relationship in international relations. the american president repeatedly flattered by and flattering north korea's dictator kim jong-un. >> we're doing very well with north korea. >> reporter: trump's positive mention of his relationship with kim jong-un came only about 48 hours after the president showed off the latest personal letter he got from the north korean dictator. >> they've never written letters like that. this letter is a great letter. >> reporter: sources familiar with the contents of kim's letter tell cnn it was, quote, predictably effusive. the view of some in the administration, cnn is told, is that kim sends letters to trump to appeal to his ego and to keep trump enthusiastic about their personal bond, especially at times when kim feels negotiations over his nuclear weapons have hi

kim jong-un is looking very forward to it, and so am i.ve made a lot of progress that has not been reported by the media but we made a lot of progress. >> cnn's will ripley is in beijing. will, president trump not saying the location of this next summit yet. only that it has been chosen. we know the first meeting, the first summit was in singapore, what are your sources telling you about where and why is the location important? >> there were three locations that sources were telling us were kind of being tossed around by the united states. hawaii, i could rule that out almost completely. the north koreans would not agree to that. bangkok was thrown out as another possibility. but i'm being told the most likely scenario is vietnam. the reason for that close to north korea and a relatively short trip for kim jong-un and vietnam is a war that fought a war with the united states and rose from the ashes and a potential model for north korea if they decide to open up their economy which is something that kim jong-un has stated he wants to do. we

president donald trump and kim jong un over the next few months now it's unclear whether kim jong un's train will return straight to pyongyang or whether he'll be stopping by another chinese city but what is clear is that this trip has been very positive optics for both north korea and china for north korea they've been able to show the world that they have a very powerful friend in china and kim jong il has been able to demonstrate himself as a more confident statesman than he was last year and for china well they've been able to show the world that they have very strong influence when it comes to pyongyang this is kim to wounds fourth trip to china in just under a year and this relationship is very important especially when you consider china's relationship with the u.s. china is currently embroiled in some very tense trade negotiations with washington and they're wanting to do what ever they can to improve their position in those talks and certainly leveraging this relationship with pyongyang is one of those ways more than a dozen consulates and embassies in australia had been evacu

this was kim jong-un's top representative in italy. >> he was. cular position in rome he was one of the top diplomats anywhere. we have new information on this case and the repercussions for kim's regime. it's an italian mystery with international implications. a top diplomat vanishes into thin air without clues and without a search for months to find him. cnn has learned the most powerful official at north korea's embassy in italy disappeared in early november along with his wife. tonight a prominent north korean super bowl reports jo had sought asylum in the west and the italian officials are protecting him. they said they're not aware of any request. >> i would say this is a defection is quite significant. >> reporter: he would have been taken an enormous risk and not just with his own security. >> to try todiplomats, one or mf their children have to be left behind as a hostage. >> what do they do to those anchor children in a diplomat defects? >> family members left behind were punished harshly. they were sent to political prison camps. soc so

north korean leader kim jong il it's wrapped up his visit to beijing earlier than expected the little details have been released about his trip and south korea's media is reporting kim met chinese president xi jinping for about an hour. the latest round of talks between the afghan taliban and the united states has been called off after differences over including members of the afghan government to separate discussions are underway in islamabad representatives from people and it's not. retired u.s. general anthony zinni has quit his job zinni so busy trump administration's envoy working to resolve the dispute between qatar and its neighbors you east how to arabia bahrain and egypt impose a land sea and a blockade on doha in two thousand and seventeen and jordan has more on his resignation and the state of us to plainly see in the region. for the last year and a half retired u.s. general anthony zinni has had two jobs negotiate an end to the g.c.c. crisis in which qatar has been isolated by its gulf neighbors since june twenty seventh team and help us stablish a nato like organization c

he might be desperate enough for a win that he will give away too much in the next summit with kim jong-ung, brian, sensitive issues with kim having come up in the planning for a location for this second summit. >> yes. one administration official told cnn the white house reached out to try to get kim to go to switzerland. the team thought kim would like that because he went to school in switzerland in the 1990s. they could not make that happen, partially because of the distance and the fact that kim jong-un was still very sensitive about the criticism he received for borrowing a chinese plane to travel to singapore for that summit. the optics so crucial to kim jong-un. >> brian todd, thank you. >>> coming up, the breaking news. with shutdown negotiations in a state of collapse, president trump heads back from the border ready to declare a national emergency to get his wall built. as the president's former lawyer michael cohen agrees to testify publically, the white house prepares for a fight over robert mueller's report. can it keep the public from seeing it? ♪ ♪ the unknown beyond the ho

of south korea and the increasing speculation that we are about to witness this visit by kim jong un indeed the first by north korean leader to south korea since the and. of the korean war he also spoke about and use spirit on the korean peninsula a new sense of trust and the feeling that if the peoples of korea both north and south wanted to move towards reunification then nothing he said in the world would stop them the saudi you eat coalition and heathy rebels in yemen both being accused of stealing food aid the un food agency is threatening to suspend some aid shipments unless more is done to stop corruption the world food program says about two thirds of a delivered to who see controlled strongholds such as sana and saddam is being stolen by armed groups associated press also saw documents suggesting that russians intended for families and ties being stolen by arms units working with the saudi iraqi coalition forces or someone else or is the chairperson of yemen a to us an organization that provides humanitarian assistance yemeni people see things aid agencies should adjust thei

north korean leader kim jong un has wrapped up his visit to beijing earlier than expected the little details have been released about his trip south korean media is reporting that kim met chinese president xi jinping about. the latest round of talks between the afghan taliban and the united states have been called off the differences over including members of the afghan government separate discussions are underway in islam about to erupt just people on the pakistani. al-jazeera has been told the results of the presidential election in the democratic republic of congo could be announced within the next forty eight hours the largest opposition party has already declared its leader feelings to be at the presumed winner of last month's vote the party says it's had a transition meeting with outgoing president joseph kabila about an advice. the two could be denied that such a meeting took place one of the main observances reporting irregularities in more than half of the county centers it monitored. the latest from the capital kinshasa . shopkeeper blank knows the democratic republic of con

this sequence of diplomatic events does seem to follow a pattern kim jong un meeting she possibly as a show of deference to the more important neighbor possibly getting guidance on how to deal with the u.s. then to be followed soon after by a meeting between president trump of the united states and kim jong un everybody has been expecting a second summit between the two leaders and it's led to all sorts of speculation that we might be having an announcement imminently viet-nam has been mentioned as a possible location for a second summit it's been reported that u.s. officials have been in the country looking at possible locations for longer odds then people have also mentioned the possibility of bangkok and even hawaii as a possible locations it's also led to speculation in south korea about what all of this means for a possible fourth summit between the korean leaders of the two koreas it was widely anticipated that kim jong un would travel to south korea in the last month it seems to have been delayed and that there is speculation that that is because both leaders of north and sout

the white house has announced a second summit between president trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—unwill take place at the end of february. it follows talks in washington between the president and one of mr kim's most trusted envoys, kim yong—chol. the new summit follows last year's historic meeting in singapore. the new location is yet to be announced, but one option could be vietnam. lastjune, president trump and kimjong—un agreed a vague statement about denuclearisation, but there has been little movement since. pyongyang also wants relief from punishing sanctions. as well as meeting president trump, special envoy kim yong—chol also met the us secretary of state, mike pompeo. our correspondent barbara plett usher has been following developments in washington. the white house said the summit would take place near the end of february, but it didn't say where, although vietnam seems to be at the top of the list of possible locations, according to multiple reports. the announcement was made after a series of meetings with the north korean envoy, kim yong—chol, beginning with his secre

if we're not and there's a breakup, then i think kim jong-un turns no another suter. >> experts say that would leave president trump and his team without many options for how to deal with kim's threat. one option could to be keep up the sanctions pressure. the other would be that unpalatable option of considering possible military action. >>> democrats say the president is holding washington hostage over a border wall he claimed mexico would pay for. now president trump is suggesting workers not getting paid should negotiate their bills and rent. plus, frightening moments inside a bowling alley in california after a shooting leaves three people dead. latest on the investigation next. you might take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. the united explorer card makes things easy. traveling lighter. taking a shortcut. woooo! taking a breather. rewarded! learn more at the explorer ca

kim jong—un says they should be lifted in phases, beginning now.at he wasn't getting anywhere with the emissaries the president was sending, so perhaps that is why he wants to speak to the man at the top himself. as for mr trump, he may also welcome the chance to have a made—for—television moment with the north korean leader to distract from his troubles at home. nancy snow is professor of public diplomacy at kyoto university of foreign studies, and joins me from tokyo. nancy, how is this news of a second summit being viewed in the region?” think it is being viewed very promising in south korea. injapan, of course, there is concern regarding the nuclear weapons programme if north korea were to agree with the united states to shut down its long—range missiles, they might say we would like to hold onto oui’ might say we would like to hold onto our intermediate and short range missiles, and of course that would be concerning the people in the region. but i think having the dialogue and moving this along, we are far removed from the singapore summit, a

with grave warnings and insults fired from both sides with kim jong un and donald trump they diverge reconcile it is donald takes a look back at a somewhat explosive twenty eight. at the beginning of twenty seen the state of relations between the united states and north korea could be summed up with a contest. itself the measuring contest in relations seemed unthinkable yet that was exactly what twenty teams brought in some of the first cases of classical literature it all began with a woman. this is still north korea's leader could easily make a run at the gold medal if political freestyle was a moment to discipline a human face to the leadership of the reclusive state almost all the support of the games itself the teams of north and south korea under one flag in fact even plump and at least in the way reconciled in pyong trying at least in the form. of the material. from. fast forward a couple of months and history's made the leaders of north and south shaking hands smiling laughing walk in order to shoulder the no man's land between their states. from apply status perspective the

this is how suddenly you get treated to cranberry juice at kim jong un's residence the whole faja and fury thing seem to go out of fashion fust so don't trump decided to put it aside the summit will happen and personally i think it's going to be a success predictability though is not one of the traits trump is known for he kept the world confused regarding his intentions to meet kim jong until the very last moment is a very substantial chance that it will work as i always say who knows who knows what's going to happen who will either have a very good meeting or we want to have a good meeting and maybe we won't even have a meeting at all it will see how it all works maybe maybe it won't everything's going to be scuttled but eventually the two met and they felt and how shame about their feelings toward each other. thank you for this fantasy i was really being tough and so wishing i will go back and forth and then we fell in love ok one thing that twenty three. in the north korean saga is that donald trump and predictability still don't go together as his emissaries were scalding front w

they joined in looking at the upcoming president summit with north korean leader kim kim -- kim jong un, and this 90 minute event was hosted by sasakawa peace foundation usa . >> welcome, and this is our first event of the new year. we have a terrific one to start with. i am the vice president, and we will start with our shameless plug. this is an organization that in -- dedicated to help in americans understand the importance of our relationship to the republic of korea. if you would like to learn more about our activities including our podcast and publications of events, you can go to our website. today we are discussing asia with this panel. i very own ambassador kathleen stevens, and senior advisor to the asia center. if i was to list their achievements and positions of influence, it would take too long. welcome all and we will start right up with the question for the ambassador. before we talk about the new car was, let's look back to the last congress briefly. on new year's eve, president donald trump signed into law the asia reassurance pack, which dealt in policy -- in part w

north korea's top diplomats arrives in washington, fuelling speculation of a second summit betweem kim jong—unnd donald trump. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: asia is the new hotbed for persecution of christians, according to a new report. and the international arrest warrant that means this basket ball star is staying in the big apple and notjoining his knicks teammates in london. no, welcome to the programme. —— hello. it's 1am here in london, where a few hours ago it was confirmed that the duke of edinburgh, the husband of queen elizabeth, had been involved in a road traffic accident. buckingham palace said the 97—year—old was not hurt. prince philip was driving at the time, and the car landed on its side after the collision near sandringham, the queen's estate in the east of england. caroline rigby reports. smashed glass and a broken wing mirror discarded on the road. evidence of the crash which happened shortly after three o'clock on thursday afternoon. the duke had been at the wheel when his land rover rolled over on to the driver's side. he was helped out of the vehi

with grave warnings and insults being fired from both sides but kim jong un and donald trump eventually reconciled he takes a look back now at a rather explosive twenty eight. at the beginning of twenty the state of relations between the united states and north korea could be summed up with the contest. time itself the measuring contest in relations seemed unthinkable yet that was exactly what twenty teens brought in some of the best cases of classical literature it all began with a woman. who is needed could easily make a run at the gold medal if political free style was a millon produce simply a human face to the leadership of the reclusive state almost all the spoils of the games itself where the teams of north and south korea walked under one flag in fact even. at least in a way were reconciled and trying at least in the form. of. a double feeling. from the. fast forward a couple of months and history's made the leaders of north and south shaking hands smiling laughing walking over to shoulder in the no man's land between their states. from apply status perspective the whole affair

the relations between the united states and north korea have been improving since june when kim jong un met with donald trump in singapore for that historic summit and promised to work towards denuclearization in exchange for concessions from the united states but washington is yet to ease its economic pressure on pyongyang which is being at hard by the sanctions regime during his speech kim jong un also called on south korea to end its joint military drills with the united states. let's get the thoughts now of joseph chang a hong kong based political scientist welcome back to r.t. this new year's day brinkmanship we'd all expect i suppose but what do you make of kim jong un's new year's speech will he make good on stalling the denuclearization process. well. probably angry. is that it would be. free and insistent that. the new. be or the united way the international sanctions are going on there is no discussion no promise. arrangements and certainly the you know the international community but not career to bring in who are the thing the board and the. summit. and the whole. the uni

kim jong-un was testing ballistic missiles and there were threats. that's stop. kim writes president trump letters now. kim is demanding that they need relief from sanctions. the administration has criticized china for relaxing their sanction enforcement. so on the key issues here of denuclearization,that main issue, there appears to be very little progress, more than seven months after that summit, shep. >> shepard: rich edson live. more on the second summit coming up in enjoyment. our next guest says the meeting is a good thing for north korea but may not be in america's best interest. he will explain next. this is . aka, rocket city, usa. this is a very difficult job. failure is not an option. more than half of employees across the country bring financial stress to work. if you're stressed out financially at home, you're going to be too worried to be able to do a good job. i want to be able to offer all of the benefits that keep them satisfied. it is the people that is really the only asset that you have. put your employees on a path to financial wellness with

kim jong un is going to china as a reminder that china has both equity and influence in this. i am not here to advocate a return to six party talks, but this is a regional issue and u.s. diplomacy works best when we work together with our allies and partners, but also with the others that you can bring influence to their. i think there is not enough attention to that as well. >> i don't have the same level of expertise is my colleagues here, but i fully agree the process has been lacking, and that is a real concern. secondly, there seems to be this dancing around about the sequencing in this definition of denuclearization that is not been addressed, and until that is worked out, i think this is not going to lead to any kind of a good outcome for us. i think we will end up back to where we was and will we saw a breakdown of the talks in the past as a result. i am very concerned and i don't think the administration has put the kind of thought into those kind of details that would be needed to get to an acceptable agreement. >> i wanted to echo what kathy said, but just to flush

kim jong-un, he's playing president trump like a fiddle right now.ong-un is doing is de facto, he is a nuclear state. north korea is a nuclear state. and every day that that goes by that that de facto situation continues he's getting closer and closer to being de jure, which is what he wants. the north koreans are not going to denuclearize. his new year's day address he laid out pretty stiff conditions before they'll consider denuclearizing. so the approach we're taking you know, not going to work and you know, if they have another summit, that's great. but kim jong-un is not term limited and he's got about 40 years of youth. >> but there be another summit because sources are telling cnn that the trump administration is scouting locations for a second one, a second summit with him. do you see any reason to hold another summit at this point? >> well, i really don't. unless it's a do-over. you know, i wish that president trump had asked kim jong-un because you know, first chance we've had in the history of the kim family in decades where we could hear