English
The government has said that the railway station in the northern border province of Lang Son is being closed in order to tighten security for the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, set to take place February 27-28 in Hanoi, 170 kilometers (106 miles) to the southwest.
The station will remain closed from February 24 to March 2.
Two passenger trains that run from Hanoi to the Dong Dang Station will pick up and drop off passengers at Lang Son Station, around 14 kilometers away.
Around 100 border guard stations have been deployed to enhance security at and around the station, which will likely be a destination for the train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Vietnam for the Hanoi summit.
North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) had confirmed Sunday that Kim Jong-un is taking a train from Pyongyang to Hanoi for his second summit with Trump and first official visit to Vietnam.
The Hanoi-Dong Dang rail route runs 163km (101 miles) with the last station around four kilometers from the Chinese border, connecting with the Pingxiang Station on the China’s railway Hengyang – Bang Tuong route.
Authorities in Lang Son have also ordered relevant agencies to step up security and ensure smooth traffic along the National Highway 1A connecting the northern province with Hanoi.
Army officers and security forces were on guard from early Sunday morning at all junctions, intersections, residential areas and construction sites along National Highway 1A from Hanoi to Lang Son.
Sidewalks and median strips on the 200km long road were swept by sapper forces with specialized mine detection equipment.
Trump and Kim will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic first summit in Singapore in June. At the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, both sides pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
