Trump, Kim in S’pore
> US president calls summit a ‘one-time shot’ at peace
SINGAPORE: US President Donald Trump arrived in Singapore yesterday for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that could lay the groundwork for ending a nuclear stand-off between the old foes and the transformation of the isolated state.
Trump called it a “one-time shot” but added that he will know “within the first minute” whether an agreement will be possible.
He flew into Singapore’s Paya Lebar Air Base aboard Air Force One following a divisive meeting in Canada with some of Washington’s closest allies that further strained global trade ties.
After stepping down from Air Force One on a steamy tropical night, Trump was greeted by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Asked by a reporter how he felt about the summit, Trump said: “Very good”. He then got into his limousine for the drive to his hotel in central Singapore.
North Korea’s Kim landed in Singapore earlier on Sunday.
When Trump and Kim meet tomorrow at Sentosa, a resort island off Singapore’s port with a Universal Studios theme park and man-made beaches, they will be making history.
Enemies since the 1950-53 Korean War, leaders of North Korea and the United States have never met previously – or even spoken on the telephone.
Kim arrived at Singapore’s Changi Airport after his longest trip overseas as head of state, wearing his trademark dark “Mao suit” and distinctive high cut hairstyle.
Arriving on a plane loaned by China, he was also greeted by Balakrishnan.
Travelling with Kim were top officials including Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and Kim Yong Chol, a close aide of Kim who has been instrumental in the diplomacy that culminated in the summit.
Kim Yo Jong, leader Kim’s younger sister, was also spotted in his delegation. She emerged as an influential figure in Pyongyang’s opaque leadership in February, when she led a North Korean delegation to the winter Olympics in South Korea.
Kim met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shortly after his arrival, driving from the St Regis Hotel where he is staying, through the famous Orchard Road shopping district, which was closed off for his tightly guarded motorcade.
Meanwhile, officials who arrived with Trump include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
Bolton’s hardline rhetoric last month infuriated North Korea and nearly derailed the summit. He called for North Korea to follow a “Libya model” in negotiations. Libya unilaterally surrendered its nuclear programme in 2003, but its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in 2011 by Nato-backed rebels. – Reuters