Trump, Kim to meet in Singapore
WASHINGTON. — President Donald Trump said he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, locking in a historic summit between the two leaders amid their confrontation over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
“We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” Trump said in a Twitter message yesterday announcing the date and place of the long-anticipated talks.
Trump made the announcement hours after the arrival in Washington of three US citizens who had been imprisoned in North Korea.
Trump and his wife Melania met the three when their plane arrived at Joint Base Andrews yesterday, and he praised their release as a conciliatory gesture by Kim.
Singapore — almost 5,000 kilometers south of Pyongyang -- represents neutral turf for the two leaders. The city-state of 5.5 million people boasts security partnerships with the US, a North Korean embassy and strong ties with China.
The government there also has a history of putting together high-profile diplomatic events at short notice, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic 2015 meeting with his then counterpart from Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou.
Still, Kim’s agreement to travel so far from the safety of Pyongyang — farther than he’s ever been as leader — could be seen as a concession by North Korea.
Trump heads into the summit hoping to gain an agreement from Kim to give up his nuclear weapons and end North Korea’s ballistic missile programme. US intelligence agencies have warned that North Korea is on the verge of being able to mount a nuclear strike against the US mainland.
The US has alternated for decades between threats and conciliatory approaches to North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests that have vexed a string of US presidents. The confrontation grew heated last year, with Trump deriding Kim as “Little Rocket Man” and Kim calling the president a “mentally deranged US dotard.”
Since Trump agreed in March to the summit with Kim, both sides have been warmer in public. The US president has repeatedly expressed optimism about reaching a deal, lauding North Korea for halting nuclear tests and praising Kim last month as “very honorable.”
The meeting will be the first between a North Korean leader and a sitting US president, though former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have travelled to North Korea since leaving office to negotiate the release of prisoners and to discuss potential diplomatic talks.
Trump thanked Kim for releasing the men. “This is a special night for these three really great people and congratulations on being in this country,” Trump told reporters at the airbase. “The fact that we were able to get them out so soon was . really a tribute to a lot of things, including a certain process that’s taking place right now. And that pro. cess is very important.” — Bloomberg.