Trump-Kim summit: final preparations in Singapore
Kim Jong-un has enjoyed a night-time tour of Singapore before his historic meeting this morning with Donald Trump.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will seek to change the course of history when they meet later today in a summit that North Korea says will lead to a “changed era” between the former enemies.
An upbeat US President predicted his meeting with the North Korean leader would work out “very nicely” as both men sought to strike a landmark deal that would lead to a denuclearised North Korea.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last night that the summit would be “truly a message of peace”. He said Mr Trump was entering the meeting “with confidence and a positive attitude and eagerness for real progress”. “Tomorrow we will get the clearest indication to date about whether chairman Kim truly shares this vision (of a denuclearised North Korea),” Mr Pompeo said.
He said he hoped the summit would “change the trajectory” of US-North Korea relations.
The two leaders will discuss the potential for a deal that would ultimately lead to North Korea getting rid of its nuclear weapons in exchange for economic and security guarantees from the US.
Such an agreement would mark the most radical departure in the history of the reclusive Stalinist regime, which has been ruled with an iron fist by the Kim dynasty since 1948.
Successful denuclearisation of North Korea would also remove the gravest security threat facing the US and Australia.
Mr Pompeo warned that the US would not give North Korea economic relief until it got rid of its nuclear weapons. But he did say Mr Trump was “prepared to ensure a North Korea free of weapons of mass destruction is also a secure North Korea”.
He said Mr Trump would not waver from his fundamental demand of total denuclearisation.
“We remain committed to the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” he said.
Mr Trump and Kim will meet at 11am (AEST) today at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island for the first meeting between a sitting US president and a leader of North Korea.
It was revealed the two leaders would begin their summit by spending time alone together to try to build a personal bond that could reshape the future of North Korea.
A US official said the leaders could spend up to two hours together in a “get to know you plus” before being joined by their advisers. No firm time limit has been placed on the summit, although Kim is scheduled to leave Singapore five hours after the meeting is set to begin.
Mr Trump predicted he would know within a minute whether Kim was someone with whom he could make a deal.
The Singapore Straits Times reported that once the leaders had spent some time together, Mr Trump would be joined by Mr Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, while Kim would be joined by his sister, Kim Yo-jong.
Kim tonight embarked on a night-time tour of Singapore.
The Australian saw a smiling North Korean leader enter the luxurious Marina Bay Sands, which has a 57th floor bar overlooking Singapore and the harbour.
He also visited Gardens by the Bay and The Esplanade on his tour. As word of his outing spread, crowds gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of the diminutive Kim among the high security.
Watching Kim Jong-un on the town in Singapore tonight pic.twitter.com/zybYXxO0Iu
— cameron stewart (@camstewarttheoz) June 11, 2018
Outside the Marina Bay Sands, security guards with assault rifles guarded the entrance
waiting for him to arrive.
Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs tweeted a selfie taken with the North Korean leader.
#Jalanjalan #guesswhwere? pic.twitter.com/oVOk8UuqlC
— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) June 11, 2018
North Korea’s state-run news agency, in its first statement on the summit, heralded the leaders’ meeting as part of a “changed era”. It said the summit would focus on “the issue of building a permanent and durable peacekeeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula, the issue of realising the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern”.
Mr Trump yesterday predicted that the summit would “work out very nicely”.
“As you know, we’ve got a very interesting meeting tomorrow … and I just think it’s going to work out very nicely,” Mr Trump said to Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Earlier Mr Trump tweeted: “Great to be in Singapore, excitement in the air!”
Mr Trump called South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday to discuss the meeting with Kim. Mr Moon tweeted: “Tomorrow’s historic US-N Korea summit is taking place entirely because of President Trump’s courageous and strong leadership.”
In final preparations for the summit, meetings were held in Singapore between a US delegation headed by ambassador to The Philippines Sung Kim and North Korean officials.
Mr Pompeo later described those meetings as “substantive and detailed”.
Mr Trump and the US delegation, including White House chief of staff John Kelly and Mr Bolton, had a working lunch with Mr Lee during which they discussed the summit.
The Singaporean leader gave Mr Trump a cake ahead of his 72nd birthday on Thursday.
Mr Trump has said he will go into the summit as a deal-maker using his “touch” and “feel” to engage with Kim.
Kim is expected to commit to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula but it is unclear what sort of concrete steps he will commit to and over what period of time.
It is also unclear what security and economic rewards Kim will seek from the US President.
There has been speculation that the two leaders will announce an agreement to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.
Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia.
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