Trump says summit with Kim may be cancelled or postponed

RAISING DOUBTS The US president was scheduled to meet the North Korean leader in Singapore on June 12

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump cast doubt on Tuesday as to whether his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place.

“Whether or not it happens you’ll be knowing pretty soon,” Trump said on Tuesday during a White House meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. “If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later.”

Moon’s visit to Washington — three weeks ahead of Trump’s scheduled June 12 summit in Singapore with Kim — comes amid renewed uncertainty about Kim’s intentions. Kim declared “an era of peace” at an April meeting with Moon but Pyongyang abruptly cancelled a subsequent round of talks last week, pinning the decision on the US and South Korea moving ahead with longplanned military exercises.

The North Koreans also voiced concern about US national security adviser John Bolton’s suggestion that North Korea would follow the “Libya model” of arms control. After surrendering his country’s nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed by Us-backed rebels.

Trump said on Tuesday that the US is prepared to guarantee Kim’s safety as part of a deal aimed at denuclearising the Korean peninsula. If they reach an accord, Kim “will be very proud” of what he did 25 years in the future, he said.

“South Korea, China and Japan — and I’ve spoken to all three — they will be willing to help and I believe invest very, very large sums of money into making North Korea great,” said Trump. “His country will be rich.”

While Trump has previously acknowledged uncertainty around the planned summit, his remarks on Tuesday went further by suggesting that the meeting could fall apart.

Moon has long been an advocate of engagement with North Korea and intended to use his session with Trump to keep the US president on board.

The biggest sticking point appears to be the definition of denuclearisation. US officials have repeatedly said they expect North Korea to accept “complete, verifiable, irreversible disarmament,” while Pyongyang is seeking a phased process that could include a reduced US military presence in the region.

Denuclearisation “all in one would be a lot better” than in phases, Trump said on Tuesday.

Moon continued to express optimism.

“I am very much aware there are many sceptical views” in the US about whether the summit will be successful, Moon said through an interpreter. “I have every confidence that President Trump will be able to achieve a historic feat.”