Countdown to Trump, Kim meeting
But success hinges on N Korea’s sincerity about denuclearisation
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump says his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore could “work out very nicely” as officials from both countries sought to narrow differences on how to end a nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula.
But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo injected a note of caution before the first-ever meeting of US and North Korean leaders, saying it remained to be seen whether Kim was sincere about his willingness to denuclearise.
Last-minute talks between the two sides were held in Singapore aimed at laying the groundwork for the summit between Trump and Kim, a meeting almost unthinkable just months ago when the two were exchanging insults and threats that raised fears of war.
But after a flurry of diplomatic overtures eased tension in recent months, the two leaders are now headed for a history-making handshake. US officials hope it could eventually lead to dismantling of a North Korean nuclear programme that threatens the US.
Offering a preview on the eve of the summit, Pompeo said it could provide “an unprecedented opportunity to change the trajectory of our relationship and bring peace and prosperity” to North Korea.
However, he played down the possibility of a quick breakthrough. The summit should set the framework for “the hard work that will follow”,he said, insisting that North Korea had to move toward with complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.
Pyongyang, though, 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 had happened, Pompeo said. “If diplomacy does not move in the right direction… those measures will increase.
“North Korea has previously confirmed to us its willingness to denuclearise and we are eager to see if those words prove sincere.”
The White House said discussions with North Korea had moved “more quickly than expected”.
Trump arrived in Singapore on Sunday after a blow-up over trade with other Group of Seven major industrialised nations in Canada,
The escalating economic clash between Washington and some of its closest global partners cast a cloud over Trump’s efforts to score a major foreign policy win in nuclear talks with North Korea, long one of America’s bitterest foes.
Although gaps remain over what denuclearisation would entail, Trump sounded a positive note in a lunch meeting with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
“We have a very interesting meeting... I just think it’s going to work out very nicely,” Trump said. It was a far cry from last year when Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” and mocked Kim as “little rocket man”. Kim denounced Trump as a “mentally deranged US dotard”.
Some people in Singapore were grumbling because of traffic jams caused by the summit and the cost of hosting two leaders with massive security needs. Lee has said the summit would cost Singapore about S$20 million (R197m).
“Thanks PM Lee for spending $20m of taxpayers’ money, which can... help a lot of needy families in Singapore to survive,” posted one Facebook user. Others complained about the traffic jams downtown.
Commenting for the first time on the summit, North Korea’s staterun KCNA news agency said the two sides would exchange “wide-ranging and profound views” to re-set relations. It heralded the summit as part of a “changed era”.
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.
In the lead-up to the summit, North Korea rejected any unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA’s reference to denuclearisation of the peninsula has historically meant that Pyongyang wants the US to remove its “nuclear umbrella” protecting South Korea and Japan.
Many experts on North Korea, one of the most insular and unpredictable countries in the world, remain sceptical Kim will ever completely abandon nuclear weapons.
They believe Kim’s latest engagement is aimed at getting the US to ease the crippling sanctions that have squeezed the impoverished country.
A Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US side was entering the talks with a sense of optimism and an equal dose of scepticism given North Korea’s long history of developing nuclear weapons. Trump has said the talks would be more about starting a relationship with Kim for a negotiating process that would take more than one summit.