The palace at 91 Tran Hung Dao Street in the central Hoan Kiem District has been chosen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the international media center for reporters covering the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. president Donald Trump.
The building, which has a floor area of 3.2 hectares (eight acres), is a gift for Vietnam from the Soviet Union. Construction began in 1978 and was completed in 1985.
The major hall of the building has four floors, is 96 meters long, 60 meters wide and 33 meters high, and its conference room can seat 1,111 people.
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The conference room inside the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Cultural Palace. Photo by Vietnam National Union of Bank Workers
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The Foreign Ministry has said that the media center will have a shared work space equipped with networked computers and LCD screens to watch live broadcasts of all events connected to the summit.
Press agencies can also rent space and set up their own nine square meter booths with full equipment including tables, chairs, LCD screens, telephone lines and internet connection.
Trump and Kim are due to meet in Hanoi on February 27 and 28 following their historic first meeting last June in Singapore.
The North Korean delegation landed at the Noi Bai Airport Saturday on a Chinese carrier to prepare for the summit.
They had visited Beijing, China, a day earlier. Kim Chang-son, part of the team overseeing protocol in the run up to the first Trump-Kim summit, is with the delegation in Hanoi.
Meanwhile, several U.S. delegations have arrived in Hanoi over the last few days, with the latest one landing in Noi Bai Airport Friday night.
Delegations of both countries will discuss the summit’s logistics, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korean television and radio network MBC has stated that Kim plans to visit Vietnam two days before the summit.
