WILL TODAY’ S MEET WITH KIM BE THE ICING ON THE CAKE?
American, North Korean teams hold talks to narrow differences
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong surprised President Donald Trump with a birthday cake during their luncheon on Monday, a day ahead of the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
The US on Monday offered “unique” security guarantees to North Korea if it accepts a “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearisation as the two sides made progress in their talks ahead of a much-publicised historic summit between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un here.
On the eve of the summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island, Trump hoped that a “nice” outcome could be reached from what he said would be a “very interesting meeting” with Kim on Tuesday.
Later, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the preparatory talks were “moving quite rapidly” and he expected them to reach what he called “a logical conclusion” even earlier than the US anticipated.
“A complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea is the only outcome that the US will accept at the summit,” Pompeo told reporters at a press conference.
He said the US is willing to offer North Korea “unique” security guarantees that are “fundamentally different from before” to achieve denuclearisation. “We will take actions to provide them sufficient certainty that they can be comfortable that denuclearisation is not something that ends badly for them,” Pompeo said.
However, sanctions on North Korea will remain until that has been achieved, he said.
“President Trump believes that Kim has an unprecedented opportunity to change the trajectory of our relationship and bring peace and prosperity to his country,” Pompeo said.
“The fact that our two leaders are sitting down face-to-face is a sign of the enormous potential to accomplish something that will immensely benefit both of our peoples and the entire world,” he said.
On the other hand, US and North Korean officials held lengthy talks on Monday in a late bid to narrow differences before their leaders hold the historic summit.
Kim and Trump had arrived in here on Sunday for the first ever faceto-face meeting by leaders of two countries that have been enemies since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
With gaps remaining over what denuclearisation would entail, officials from both sides were trying to push the agenda forward ahead of the summit.s Commenting for the first time on the agenda, North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said the two sides would exchange “wide-ranging and profound views” to re-set relations.
Discussions would focus on “the issue of building a permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula, the issue of realising the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern”, KCNA said.