They came, they met and they signed
Trump pledges security guarantees while Kim commits to complete denuclearisation
SINGAPORE: US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jongun concluded an extraordinary nuclear summit with the American president pledging unspecified “security guarantees” to the North and Kim recommitting to the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.
Meeting with staged ceremony at the Capella Singapore hotel, Trump and Kim came together for a summit that seemed unthinkable months ago, clasping hands in front of a row of alternating US and North Korean flags, holding a one-on-one meeting, additional talks with advisers and a working lunch.
Both leaders expressed optimism throughout roughly five hours of talks, with Trump thanking Kim afterward “for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people”.
Trump added during a free-flowing news conference that Kim has before him “an opportunity like no other” to bring his country back into the community of nations if he agrees to give up his nuclear programme.
Trump announced that he will be freezing US military “war games” with its ally South Korea while negotiations between the two countries continue.
Trump cast the decision as a cost-saving measure but North Korea has long objected to the drills as a security threat.
Trump acknowledged that the timetable for denuclearisation is long, but said, “once you start the process it means it’s pretty much over”.
The president acknowledged that US intelligence into the North Korean nuclear stockpile is limited, “probably less there than any other country”, he said.
“But we have enough intelligence to know that what they have is very substantial.”
Trump said Kim gave his “unwavering commitment” to work towards denuclearisation during their historic summit and they are prepared to “write a new chapter” between their countries.
Kim agreed to destroy his country’s “major missile engine testing site”, Trump told reporters.
Asked why he did not get a commitment to a complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation, Trump said: “I’m here for one day. The process is now going to take place.”
He added that “the sanctions will come off when we are sure the nukes are no longer a factor”. Trump also said the US will not reduce American troop presence in South Korea.
“I’d like to bring them home, but that’s not part of the equation right now. But we will be stopping the war games.”
The two leaders had signed a comprehensive document capping their historic talks earlier in the day.
The two leaders conducted an in-depth and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new US-North Korea relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
Besides the nuclear issue, Trump and Kim also discussed the issue of the remains of prisoners of war.
Trump said Kim agreed to handing over the remains.
The two leaders appeared to have developed a rapport over the course of a morning filled with remarkable political theatre.
The day had started with a historic handshake. At 9.04am, Trump and Kim strode into the courtyard from separate sides, stood face to face for the first time and shared a 13-second handshake against a backdrop of American and North Korean flags.
They then sat down for a 41-minute one-on-one meeting, after which they appeared before the media, with Trump saying the discussion was “very, very good”.
This was followed by an extended bilateral meeting which included delegations from both sides and a working lunch.
Around Asia and the world, many have welcomed the unprecedented summit between the two adversaries.
“The United States and North Korea have been in a state of antagonism for more than half a century,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
“Today, that the two countries’ highest leaders can sit together and have equal talks, has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history.”
Iran, meanwhile, reminded Kim that Trump should not be trusted because he could nullify any nuclear deal with North Korea, just as he had pulled out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Teheran.
“We are facing a man who revokes his signature while abroad,” said government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed Kim’s written commitment to complete denuclearisation. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network/AP