Daily Dispatch

Summit goes off well – for now

Trump, Kim sign on security and denucleari­sation

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US PRESIDENT Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged yesterday to work towards complete denucleari­sation of the Korean peninsula while Washington committed to provide security guarantees for its old enemy.

“President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denucleari­sation of the Korean Peninsula,” said a joint statement issued after their historic summit in Singapore.

DPRK is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name of North Korea.

Trump said he expected the denucleari­sation process to start “very, very quickly”.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean officials would hold follow-up negotiatio­ns “at the earliest possible date”, the statement said.

It however did not give any details on how denucleari­sation would be achieved. The document also made no mention of the internatio­nal sanctions that have crippled North Korea’s economy, for pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.

Nor was there any reference to finally signing a peace treaty. The combatants of the 1950-53 Korean War are technicall­y still at war, as the conflict, in which millions of people died, was concluded only with a truce.

But the joint statement did say the two sides had agreed to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action and repatriati­ng them.

If the joint statement does lead to a lasting detente, it could fundamenta­lly change the security landscape of Northeast Asia, just as former US President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972 led to the transforma­tion of China.

Before signing what Trump described as a “comprehens­ive” document, Kim said the two leaders had a historic meeting “and decided to leave the past behind. The world will see a major change”.

Trump said he had formed a “very special bond” with Kim and that relationsh­ip with North Korea would be very different.

Asked whether he would invite Kim to the White House, Trump said: “Absolutely, I will”.

He called Kim “very smart” and a “very worthy, very hard negotiator”.

During a post-lunch stroll through the gardens of the Singapore hotel where the summit was held, Trump said the meeting had gone “better than anybody could have expected”.

Kim stood silently alongside, but the North Korean leader had earlier described their summit as a “a good prelude to peace”.

They had appeared cautious and serious when they first arrived for the summit at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa, a resort island with luxury hotels, a casino, manmade beaches and a Universal Studios theme park.

But, with cameras of the world’s press trained on them, they displayed an initial atmosphere of bonhomie as they met on the verandah of the Capella.

Body language expert said both men tried to project command, as they met, but also displayed signs of nerves.

After a handshake, they were soon smiling and holding each other by the arm, before Trump guided Kim to the library where they held a meeting with only their interprete­rs. Trump had said on Saturday he would know within a minute of meeting Kim whether he would reach a deal.

Inside, they sat alongside each other against a backdrop of North Korean and US flags, with Kim beaming broadly as the US president gave him a thumbs up.

After initial exchanges lasting around 40 minutes, Trump and Kim emerged, before entering a meeting room, where they were joined by their most senior officials.

Kim was heard telling Trump through a translator: “I think the entire world is watching this moment. Many people in the world will think of this as a scene from a fantasy . . . science-fiction movie.”

The dollar jumped to a three-week top yesterday and Asian shares rose on the news.

Trump was joined by Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, for the expanded talks.

In the hours before the summit began, Trump expressed optimism about prospects for the first-ever meeting of sitting US and North Korean leaders, while Pompeo injected a note of caution whether Kim would prove to be sincere about his willingnes­s to denucleari­se.

Pompeo said the summit should set the framework for “the hard work that will follow”, insisting that North Korea had to move towards complete, verifiable and irreversib­le denucleari­sation.

North Korea, however, has shown little appetite for surrenderi­ng nuclear weapons it considers vital to the survival of Kim’s dynastic rule.

Sanctions on North Korea would remain in place until that happened, Pompeo said on Monday.

Trump spoke to Moon and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, both key allies of Washington in the region, to discuss developmen­ts ahead of the summit.

 ?? Picture: AFP ?? HISTORIC MEETING: US President Donald Trump, right, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un shake hands following a signing ceremony during their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore yesterday
Picture: AFP HISTORIC MEETING: US President Donald Trump, right, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un shake hands following a signing ceremony during their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore yesterday

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