Donald Trump was hopeful of arriving at some sort of understanding with Kim Jong-un to resolve the situation in the Korean Peninsula. However, it turned out to be an exercise in futility. Trump wanted Kim to draw up suitable action plans for denuclearization but Kim’s priority was easing of sanctions. It was an obvious clash of interests and the second summit in Hanoi ended on a sour note. It seems North Korea is now reverting to give some more shine to its nuclear inventories.

New Zealand Herald reports North Korea is believed to be rebuilding its nuclear assets.

Satellite imagery captured in the latter part of February tends to confirm this. The Hanoi summit between the two leaders, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, abruptly halted on February 28. This sudden halt to talks could have triggered the hermit kingdom’s need to rebuild its nuclear facilities.

The signs are ominous

Over the past two years, the regime of North Korea had dropped hints that they are keen to come out of isolation. Their athletes participated in the 2017 Winter Olympics and Kim Jong-un met the South Korean president Moon Jae-in more than once.

There was a feeling of good times. Then came the historic first-ever summit in Singapore between Kim and US President Donald Trump. That was in June 2018 when Kim agreed to start denuclearization but the progress was slow. Hence, both sides decided to meet in Hanoi and sort out some of the pending issues. The second summit was a failure because of conflicting interests.

In the opinion of observers, the failed Hanoi summit has pushed Pyongyang to the brink and it wants to go back to its aggressive nature by flaunting its nuclear might. New Zealand Herald says 38 North is a website devoted to the analysis of North Korea and its managing editor Jenny Town has studied the satellite images.

He feels the rebuilding activities are recent. Work to dismantle one of North Korea's largest test sites began soon after denuclearization negotiations with the United States but has now done a U-turn.

Good sense hopefully prevails

According to News 18, North Korea has not taken kindly to the failed Hanoi summit. The country has made its intentions clear by rebuilding one of its facilities that were scheduled for dismantling. The decision to dismantle it was taken in the Singapore summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. North Korea has always been isolated and in order to become a power to reckon with, it took the nuclear path.

North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches.

In 2017, it claimed to have developed capability to nuke the United States. That led to a warlike situation and finally, a semblance of peace returned when the first Trump-Kim summit happened. However, the failed second summit is a matter of concern and the leaders will hopefully work out a solution so that good sense prevails. If necessary, they could have a third summit.
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