One-shot chance for peace with North Korea, says Donald Trump
Donald Trump has declared he and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un have a “one-time shot’’ at changing the course of history tomorrow.
Donald Trump has declared he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have a “one-time shot” at changing the course of history tomorrow as both leaders flew to Singapore last night for the most anticipated summit in a generation.
For the North Koreans, a cargo plane arrived first carrying food and limousines for the supreme leader. Then Kim stepped off an Air China 747 jet from Pyongyang to be greeted by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Kim was driven in a black stretch Mercedes to the luxury St Regis Hotel in central Singapore. It is the furthest he has travelled from Pyongyang since he became leader in 2011.
Afterwards, Kim met Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The US President arrived several hours later with his national security team on Air Force One.
Mr Trump predicted he would know “within the first minute” of their meeting at 11am (AEST) tomorrow whether he could strike a deal with the North Korean leader.
“Just my touch, my feel, that’s what I do … I think that very quickly I’ll know whether or not something good is going to happen,” he said.
“And if I think it won’t happen, I’m not going to waste my time. I don’t want to waste his time.”
Mr Trump has said he wants Kim to commit to the destruction of his nuclear weapons, but the two sides have yet to agree on how and when such a process could be achieved.
Kim told the Americans he was willing to commit to denuclearisation but it was unclear how far he would go.
No sitting US president has met a North Korean leader. The White House has prepared for both success and failure. As of yesterday, it had not even been confirmed whether Mr Trump would hold a press conference afterwards.
But Mr Trump said Kim would surprise the world with his willingness to negotiate a solution to the nuclear standoff.
“This is a leader who really is an unknown personality,” Mr Trump said. “People don’t know much about him. I think that he’s going to surprise, on the upside, very much on the upside.
“It’s unknown territory, in the truest sense. But I really feel confident. I feel that Kim Jong-un wants to do something great for his people, and he has that opportunity.”
But Mr Trump also warned of the danger of a failed summit.
“He won’t have that opportunity again. It’s never going to be there again,” he said.
“So it’s a one-time — it’s a one-time shot. And I think it’s going to work out very well. This is a great opportunity for peace, and lasting peace, and prosperity.”
Mr Trump said the minimum he wanted from Kim was a relationship. “You’d start at least a dialogue. Because, you know, as a deal person, I’ve done very well with deals. What you want to do is start that,” he said.
“Now, I’d like to accomplish more than that. But at a minimum, I do believe, at least we’ll have met each other. We will have seen each other. Hopefully we will have liked each other and we’ll start that process.”
The historic colonial Capella Hotel, once used to house British soldiers, will host the leaders summit and was already locked down yesterday.
A heavy police presence yesterday surrounded the St Regis Hotel, the Capella and also the Shangri-La Hotel where Mr Trump was expected to stay. A large naval ship was stationed off the coast near the Capella.
Mr Lee said the summit was costing Singapore $S20 million ($19.6m). About 2500 media representatives have travelled to Singapore from across the world.
Much care has been taken to make the summit neutral so it does not appear that one leader is hosting the other. This includes ensuring that both leaders enter the room at the same time from different entrances rather than giving the appearance that one is waiting for the other. No plans were announced for Kim to make public comments or hold a press conference in Singapore.
Kim and Trump impersonators have popped up around town, including at a major shopping centre where more than 100 people yesterday lined up to take selfies with them.
Mr Lee said he was flattered that Singapore was entrusted to hold such a major summit.
“This has the potential to set developments on a new path (for North Korea) … (and) set developments conducive to security and stability the region,” the Prime Minister said.
Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia.
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