Trump, Kim arrive in Singapore for improbable summit
Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, arrives in Singapore on Sunday for a bilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
It was another once-unthinkable scene. Trump had long derided Kim and traded insults with him. Now he is poised to become the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a North Korean leader.
For Kim, the transformation is even more remarkable. The longtime pariah on the global stage basked in the kind of attention – and acceptance – that his family has sought for three generations.
Onlookers clamored to catch a glimpse or a snap cellphone picture of Kim in his black Mercedes limousine as his 20-vehicle motorcade sped from Changi Airport to a protected area at the luxury St. Regis Singapore hotel where he is staying.
Later, Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, ushered Kim around the palace office to shake hands with officials, pose
for pictures and chat from regal cream-colored chairs – all broadcast live to the world from a government Facebook account.
“The entire world is watching this historic summit,” Kim told Lee during their welcome meeting. Lee said earlier that Singapore’s government will gladly pay the $20 million it cost to host the summit.
Trump was accompanied by White House chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton. Pompeo, who planned to brief regional allies after the summit, had his own plane.
The White House sought to dispel multiple reports that Trump has shrugged off briefings and plans to wing his first bid at nuclear diplomacy. “During the flight, the president spent time meeting with his staff, reading materials and preparing for his meetings in Singapore,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
His public schedule Monday was light. He planned to meet with Lee at noon and then visit with U.S. Embassy staff members who had scrambled to help arrange the visit. Sung Kim, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea now posted to the Philippines, was scheduled to lead a U.S. delegation for a 10 a.m. working group session with a North Korean team at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
The turn toward diplomacy with Kim came directly after Trump upended the normally cordial gathering of close allies at the annual Group of Seven conference – exchanging angry words with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he left early and refusing to sign a pro forma joint statement.
Not only was Trump uninterested in mending fences over the trade dispute with America’s closest traditional allies, he was also eager to get to the talks with Kim.
The trail of excitement following Kim, who has long sought global legitimacy, puts added pressure on Trump to win something more than good feelings from the summit, even if the gains are not immediate.
The worldwide anticipation for Tuesday’s historic summit between the most unconventional American president in modern times and an autocrat who is perhaps the world’s most isolated leader has grown quickly since the summit was put together at a lightning pace over the past few weeks.