Trump, Kim in Singapore for historic summit
SINGAPORE: President Donald Trump landed in Singapore on Sunday evening, joining North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the island city-state ahead of one of the most unusual and highly anticipated summits in recent world history, a Tuesday sit-down meant to settle a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal.
Air Force One touched down at a military air base, traveling from Canada, where Trump had attended a meeting of the Group of Seven Nations.
Hours earlier, a jet carrying Kim landed, and after shaking hands with the Singapore foreign minister, Kim sped through the city’s streets in a massive limousine, two large North Korean flags fluttering on the hood, surrounded by other black vehicles with tinted windows and bound for the luxurious and closely guarded St. Regis Hotel. Kim smiled broadly Sunday evening as he met with Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong.“The entire world is watching the historic summit between (North Korea) and the United States of America, and thanks to your sincere efforts ... we were able to complete the preparations for the historic summit,” Kim told Lee through an interpreter.
Trump is set to meet with Lee on Monday. Trump has said he hopes to win a legacy-making deal with the North to give up their nuclear weapons, though he has recently sought to manage expectations, saying that it may take more than one meeting.
The North, many experts believe, stands on the brink of being able to target the entire US mainland with its nuclear-armed missiles, and while there’s deep skepticism that Kim will quickly give up those hard-won nukes, there’s also some hope that diplomacy can replace the animosity between the US and the North.
This will be the first summit of its kind between a leader of North Korea and a sitting US president. The North has faced crippling diplomatic and economic sanctions as it has advanced development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The North Korean autocrat’s every move will be followed by 3,000 journalists who have converged on Singapore, and by gawkers around the world, up until he shakes hands with Trump on Tuesday. It’s a reflection of the intense global curiosity over Kim’s sudden turn to diplomacy in recent months after a slew of North Korean nuclear and missile tests last year raised serious fears of war.