President Trump, Kim Jong Un seek something basic: A definition of denuclearization

WASHINGTON – When President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un sit down Wednesday in Vietnam, one of their goals will be rather basic: defining the very topic of their negotiations, denuclearization.

The United States basically defines the term as having North Korea eliminate all of its nuclear weapons programs. North Koreans see it as removal of all nuclear assets from the region – including those the United States put there to protect South Korea and other allies.

Bridging this definition gap is key to this week's second summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi.

"A shared understanding is what denuclearization is," is how one administration official put it.

Two senior administration officials discussed next week's emerging schedule on condition they not be named, citing the confidential nature of negotiations that are already going on in Vietnam.

Few details were provided about the agenda on Wednesday and Thursday. But they did confirm that Trump and Kim intend to meet alone without aides, just as they did during their first summit last year in Singapore.

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Trump and aides want the North Koreans to commit to detailed, concrete ways to eliminate their nuclear weapons programs. But Kim and his government want the U.S. to do something first: ease economic sanctions that are crippling their country.

Addressing this standoff is part of the effort to define denuclearization, officials said.

Trump has downplayed expectations, saying last week that he was in no "rush" to demand denuclearization and insisting he remained confident Kim eventually would do so.

"I don’t think this will be the last meeting by any chance, but I do think that the relationship is very strong," Trump told reporters.

Previously:Trump on Kim Jong Un: 'We fell in love' over 'beautiful letters'

Kristine Lee, research associate with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said the definition of denuclearization has been "a sticking point"  because of U.S. assets in the region.

"Denuclearization for North Korea has long meant the removal of all of these assets (missile defense systems, stealth fighters) from the peninsula," she said. "Whereas for the United States, this refers exclusively to the elimination of North Korea's nuclear program."

As he prepared to head to Vietnam, Trump got plenty of advice.

A group of more than 40 retired military generals and diplomats urged Trump to consider some kind of sanctions relief. They also backed a proposal to have the United States and North Korea set up liaison offices in each other's cities – not embassies, but offices that can be used to transmit government-to-government messages.

Trump "must move beyond symbolism if he hopes to make real headway towards ending the danger of the North Korean nuclear program," read the letter released by the American Collage of National Security Leaders.

A group of House Democrats, meanwhile, have asked Trump for more details about the North Korea talks.

In a letter to the president, three chairmen of national security committees said Trump's positive statements about Kim are at odds with intelligence assessments that North Korea remains a threat and is likely to want to keep its nuclear weapons.

The letter was signed by chairmen Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Adam Smith, D-Wash., Committee on Armed Services; and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

"There are ample reasons to be skeptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea," they said.