Tensions eased dramatically after the two leaders met last year, although the North has not taken substantial steps since then toward giving up its nuclear arsenal. Here’s what’s at stake when their two-day meeting begins Wednesday.

Go deeper: Vietnamese officials have suggested that North Korea could benefit from their approach of holding China at bay while courting the U.S., a former enemy.

A split screen for President Trump

As the first day of Mr. Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un ends, his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is set to testify publicly against him in Congress.

The White House has shrugged off the clashing narratives. “I don’t think the president has any concerns whatsoever about Michael Cohen,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said last week.