- President Trump and Kim Jong-un met at the Capella Resort, an isolated hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore
- They had a handshake photo-op before engaging in a one-on-one conversation with translators that lasted nearly 45 minutes
- Their private meeting gave way to an expanded bilateral with top officials from both countries
- Trump will address the media on Tuesday afternoon prior to his departure for Washington
- The summit began at 9 am in Singapore, which is 9pm EDT on the East Coast
- President Trump said in his first remarks that ‘it’s an honor’ to be meeting with Kim, whom he expects to have ‘a terrific relationship’ with now that they’ve been personally introduced
- Kim told the U.S. president, ‘It was not easy to get here…old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward, but we overcame all of them’
- Trump set the tone for the talks, sending Kim an outstretched hand and patting the dictator’s right elbow with the other
- Neither man smiled during the formal photo, but Trump gave Kim a warm grip-and-grin moments later
- The two signed a ‘comprehensive’ agreement but didn’t immediately reveal the language
Kim Jong Un has committed to ‘complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula’ while Donald Trump has promised ‘security guarantees’ for North Korea as the two leaders met for the first time.
Trump hailed his ‘special bond’ with Kim following a day of historic talks, praised the dictator as a ‘skilled’ negotiator and said he would ‘absolutely’ invite him to the White House in future.
Meanwhile Kim said it was time to ‘leave the past behind’ and embark on a new era of relations with America while promising that the world will see a ‘major change’.
The two men signed a joint statement at the Capella hotel in Singapore, and while the US did not immediately release the wording, Donald Trump flashed a copy to the cameras which could be read.
The agreement reaffirms an earlier declaration signed between North and South Korea and commits North Korea to ‘work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’
Another point commits the U.S. and North Korea ‘to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.’
An additional point committed the nations to ‘join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.’
The U.S. president also affirmed he would ‘absolutely’ be willing to host Kim at the White House after today’s conversations. telling a room full of journalists representing American and North Korean outlets, ‘This is going to lead to more and more and more and it’s an honor to be with you a very great honor.’
‘We’ll meet again. We’ll meet many times,’ he stated.
Trump earlier said as the summit commenced that ‘it’s an honor’ to be with Kim today to open a direct line of communication that he expects to blossom into ‘a terrific relationship’ with the longtime U.S. antagonist.
He told journalists later, after a working lunch that he had a ‘really fantastic meeting’ with Kim and that he believes was ‘really, very positive.’
‘I think, better than anybody could have expected, top of the line, really good. We’re going right now for a signing,’ he said.
Talks were apparently going so well on Tuesday afternoon that Trump showed Kim his limo, opening a door so he could inspect the car that travels everywhere with the U.S. president and flies in the belly of his plane when he’s abroad.
After the summit had ended, Trump assessed that Kim had a ‘great personality’ and is ‘very smart — good combination.’
‘A worthy negotiator…a very worthy, very smart negotiator,’ the U.S. president added. ‘We had a terrific day and we learned a lot about each other and our countries.’
Trump and Kim began the summit with a hearty handshake, exchanging pleasantries for the cameras and meeting one-on-one for 38 minutes with only translators present while the world watched with anticipation as the first-ever meeting between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader unfolded.
Trump told reporters as he sat down for his initial meeting with Kim that he believed they were ‘going to have a great discussion’ that he believed would be a ‘tremendous success.’
‘It will be tremendously successful,’ he reiterated. ‘And it’s an honor, and we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt.’
Kim – whose voice is rarely if ever heard in the West – told the U.S. president through an interpreter, ‘Well, it was not easy to get here. The past worked as fetters on our limbs, and the old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward. But we overcame all of them, and we are here today.’
‘That’s true,’ Trump said in agreement, shaking his counterpart’s hand and making what appeared to be joke that was audible to only the two men and their translators as reporters were led out out of the room.
Trump and Kim then held private talks with only their interpreters before walking together along a route that provided them with another opportunity to speak to press.
‘Very, very good. Excellent relationship,’ Trump told a tightly-restricted group of assembled journalists.
The leaders ignored questions from the U.S. media on denuclearization of the Koran Peninsula, the topic of the Singapore talks.
Moments later, Trump and Kim rejoined senior officials from both nations for a meeting that was supposed to get into the nitty-gritty of a possible nuclear disarmament deal.
‘Of course there will be challenges ahead, but I am ready to listen,’ Kim could be heard telling the U.S. president in the group setting, through a translator. ‘We overcame all kinds of skepticism and speculations about this summit, and I believe that this is good for the peace.’
Trump told him, ‘We will solve [this]. We will be successful. And I look forward to working on it with you. It will be done.’
A working lunch on Tuesday featured prawn cocktail with avocado salad, green mango kerabu with honey lime dressing and fresh octopus and ‘Oiseon’ Korean stuffed cucumber as starters.
For the main course, the leaders had the choice of beef short rib confit, sweet and sour crispy pork and Yangzhou fried rice with chili sauce or soy braised cod fish.
Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream with cherry coulis, Tropezienne and a dark chocolate tartlet ganache were listed on a White House handout as the dessert options.
‘Very nice. Get a good picture everybody so we look nice and handsome and thin. Perfect,’ Trump jested to journalists as they were briefly allowed to observe the meal.
The almost unbelievable nature of the encounter hasn’t been lost on Kim, whose repressive regime has kept the U.S. on edge for decades through bellicose statements, nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.
‘Many people in the world will think of this as a … form of fantasy … from a science fiction movie,’ he told the president through a translator in a remark overheard during a morning session by the press.
Kim Jong-un’s motorcade departs the Capella hotel following the signing ceremony. The North Korean leader was originally scheduled to leave Singapore at 2pm local time, though that has now been pushed back
In their very first greeting, Trump set the tone for the talks, sending Kim an outstretched hand and patting the dictator’s right elbow with the other. Neither man smiled during the formal photo, taken on a red carpet in front of alternating American and North Korean flags.
As they turned the corner to head into their first of several sessions, however, in an area that Trump may have thought was off camera, the U.S. leader broke into a smile while exchanging quiet words with Kim and another handshake that lasted several seconds.A third grip-and-grin followed brief remarks to press inside the portion of their one-on-one meeting that was open to cameras.
For both leaders, everything was on the line on Tuesday in Singapore. Kim has the incentive of sanctions relief. For Trump, an agreement, no matter how weak was better than coming away empty-handed.
Trump had taunted his critics earlier on Tuesday in the hours before his history-making meeting with the North Korean dictator in tweets.
‘The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers. We have our hostages, testing, research and all missle launches have stoped, and these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine!’ he tweeted.
SOURCE: MAIL.ONLINE
Be the first to comment