Trump-Kim meeting: Democrats hit out at 'reality TV handshake' amid concerns over lack of specific promises from North Korea
Mr Trump says he trusts Mr Kim and that he believes the North Korean leader is sincere about his desire for denuclearisation
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Donald Trump appears to have made a major concession to North Korea following his joint agreement with Kim Jong-un, ending joint military exercises with South Korea that he deemed “provocative” and “tremendously expensive”.
He said he also hoped to “bring home” the 32,000 US troops stationed in South Korea at some point in the future, but acknowledged such a move was not “part of the equation right now”.
In a press conference lasting more than an hour Mr Trump also said the North had begun dismantling a major missile engine testing site, and he praised Mr Kim as “very talented”.
Later, as Mr Trump's plane landed in Guam to refuel, Mr Trump told reporters that he trusted Mr Kim and that he believed the North Korean leader was sincere about his desire for denuclearisation.
“I can only tell you that from the time I’ve (dealt) with him, which is really starting 90 days ago," Mr Trump said. "I think he wants to get it done".
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At the end of the summitMr Trump and Mr Kim signed what Mr Trump claimed was a “comprehensive” document following the historic meeting aimed at the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. The president said he believed the process of denuclearisation would happen “very, very quickly”, adding that he had formed a “special bond” with Mr Kim.
Mr Kim who has been granted a measure of international legitimacy with the summit, said the two leaders had “decided to leave the past behind. The world will see a major change”.
In the first meeting of a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, the pair convened at a luxury resort on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, clasping hands as they stood on a red carpet in front of a backdrop of alternating US and North Korean flags. Mr Trump was first to arrive at the summit site, followed by Mr Kim, both readying for the 9am meeting that culminated dizzying weeks of negotiations over logistics and policy.
The pair started the momentous Singapore summit with an historic handshake for the world’s media before getting down to talks about North Korea’s nuclear programme.
Mr Trump and Mr Kim met one on one for about 40 minutes, joined only by translators. Then aides to each arrived for more discussions and a working lunch.
The US president said the meetings went “better than anybody could have expected” after the pair emerged from lunch and strolled together down a paved walkway before stopping and posing before the waiting news media.
Mr Trump said the meeting is “going great. We had a really fantastic meeting”. He added that there has been “a lot of progress. Really very positive”
It is believed that the signing will likely revolve around a promise to keep meeting.
The White House said discussions with North Korea have moved “more quickly than expected” and Mr Trump would leave Singapore on Tuesday night, after the summit. He had earlier been scheduled to leave on Wednesday. Mr Trump will visit military bases in Guam and Hawaii on his way back to Washington.
Teams of officials from both sides held working-level talks on Monday.
Senior officials travelling with Mr Trump included secretary of state Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and White House chief of staff John Kelly. As Mr Trump was travelling to the Capella Hotel which was the site of the summit, he surprisingly tweeted about another senior official - economic adviser Larry Kudlow - with Mr Trump saying he had had a heart attack. The White House later said that Mr Kudlow was in a good condition in hospital having suffered a “very mild” heart attack.
Mr Kim’s delegation consisted of foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, defence minister No Kwang Chol and Kim Yong Chol, a close aide of Kim who has been instrumental in the diplomacy that culminated in Tuesday’s summit.
Kim Yo Jong, leader Kim’s younger sister, was also spotted in his delegation. She emerged as an influential figure in Pyongyang’s opaque leadership in February, when she led a North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
When Mr Trump initially agreed to meet with the North Korean leader, the US president spoke of his hope that their encounter could secure a major breakthrough and lead to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
If so, then the meeting would be the most important since Ronald Reagan met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva in November 1985.
Mr Trump has since sought to play down expectations, saying that the meeting will be an important first step, but that securing a deal will likely take many more meetings.
Given that what the US wants to get out of the summit, a rapid denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, may be different to what North Korea wants, there may be many such meetings. Many observers will be looking to see whether Mr Trump does extend an invitation to his counterpart to visit the White House.
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has welcomed Donald Trump's joint statement with Kim Jong-un.
Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says his agency "stands ready to undertake any verification activities in (North Korea) that it may be requested to conduct by the countries concerned."
He noted that the Trump-Kim statement signed in Singapore includes a North Korean commitment "towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula."
Amano says the IAEA "will closely follow the negotiations to be held between the two countries to implement the outcomes" of Trump's summit with Kim.
Donald Trump conducted two TV interviews before he gave the wider press conference which we covered in detail a short while ago.
One was to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, the other with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
A few excerpts of the Hannity interview have now been aired on Fox. In them, Mr Trump says he thinks North Korea will begin the process of denuclearisation "virtually immediately", though there is no suggestion that he has received any binding commitment to that effect from Kim Jong-un.
"I just think that we are now going to start the process of denuclearisation of North Korea. I believe that he's going back and will start it virtually immediately," Trump said, adding: "And he's already indicated that.
"It's a process and it's really moving rapidly," Trump said.
Donald Trump has left Singapore aboard Air Force One, saying he is leaving a day earlier than planned because "there was nothing more we could have done".
In remarks to reporters just before take-off, Mr Trump said the process of denuclearisation in North Korea will have to be fully verifiable.
"We're going to have to check it. We will check it. Total and complete."
The president will be stopping in Guam and Hawaii as he makes his way back to Washington. He said at the end of his press conference this afternoon that he was looking forward to a bit of down time after the much-anticipated summit.
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said he approved of US president Donald Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Interfax reported on Tuesday.
"The mere fact of the meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea is positive ... We are following the comments that both sides are making but we have not seen the document yet, we'll see," Lavrov was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, China suggested the UN Security Council could consider suspending or lifting sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang is in compliance with UN resolutions and making progress in diplomatic negotiations.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China "welcomes and supports" talks between North Korea and the US to reach consensus on denuclearisation and establish a peace mechanism.
India's foreign ministry said in a statement that it hoped for complete implementation of the agreement, "thus paving the way for lasting peace and stability in the Korean peninsula".
And Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe, who has been heavily involved in the build up to the talks, welcomed Mr Kim's written commitment to complete denuclearisation.
The UK has joined other countries in welcoming the outcomes of the Singapore summit, albeit with caveats.
In a statement, foreign secretary Boris Johnson said North Korea's commitment to denuclearisation is a signal that its leader, Kim Jong-un, has finally got the message that the world has been trying to send
Reading a statement from Mr Johnson, prime minister Theresa May's spokesman told reporters: "We welcome that President Trump and Kim Jong-un have held a constructive summit, this is an important step towards the stability of a region vital to global economic growth."
He added: "There is much work to be done and we hope that Kim continues to negotiate in good faith towards complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation."
Amid the general optimism surrounding the theme and tone of the summit, most analysts are stressing caution over what has been achieved practically.
Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst on North Korea, said the actual text agreed and signed by Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un was "very disappointing".
He tweeted: "Each of the four main points was in previous documents with NK, some in a stronger, more encompassing way.
"The denuke bullet is weaker than the Six Party Talks language," he said. Those were talks held in 2003 between China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, and the United States, aimed at solving the nuclear crisis.
And Mr Klingner said he was also disappointed at there being "no mention of CVID, verification, human rights". CVID stands for the "Complete, Verifiable and Irreversible Dismantlement" of North Korea's nuclear weapons.
The full version of the video shown by Mr Trump to Mr Kim, touting the potential future North Korea could enjoy if it disarms and begins economic development, has been released.
It is not subtle.
Created by Destiny Pictures, the four-minute video features a voiceover - reminiscent of a movie trailer or advert - suggesting that only a "few" people ever get to change the course of history.
Images of world commerce and transportation flicker across the screen as a man's voice intones: "Seven billion people inhabit planet Earth.
"Of those alive today, only a small number will leave a lasting impact. And only the very few will make decisions or take actions that renew their homeland."
The video includes snippets of footage of both Mr Kim and Mr Trump, as well as historical military clips. It casts the two leaders as protagonists in a hopeful moment of history and asks whether, and when, they will decide to "change the world".
The voiceover continues: "History may appear to repeat itself for generations, cycles that never seem to end. There have been times of relative peace, and times of great tension.
"While this cycle repeats, the light of innovation and prosperity has burned bright for most of the world."
"Out of the darkness can come the light," the earnest narrator intones over inspirational music and a rapid-fire series of stock clips. "Will he shake the hand of peace?" the voiceover asks the viewer, referring to Mr Kim.
Enjoy the full four minutes and 13 seconds below.
Russia has welcomed Mr Trump's surprise announcement that the US would end joint military exercises with South Korea, saying it was necessary to stop provocative actions to ease tensions on the peninsula.
Mr Trump had himself described the drills as both "provocative" and "tremendously expensive".
North Korea has always hated them, saying they are preparations for invasion.
Iran has warned Kim Jong-un he should not trust Donald Trump, saying the US president could cancel the Singapore agreement before the ink is even dry.
Tehran offered the advice citing its experience of Mr Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the remaining parties have pledged to attempt to save.
"We don't know what type of person the North Korean leader is negotiating with. It is not clear that he would not cancel the agreement before returning home," Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht was quoted as saying by the IRNA new agency.
Mr Nobakht questioned Mr Trump's credibility, adding: "This man does not represent the American people, and they will surely distance themselves from him at the next elections," he said.
The US Department of Defence was unable to give more information about Mr Trump's apparent snap decision to end joint military exercises with South Korea.
Lieutenant Colonel Chris Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said only: "The Department of Defence continues to work with the White House, the interagency, and our allies and partners on the way forward following the US/DPRK summit.
"We will provide additional information as it becomes available."
The decision was seen as a major concession by the president as North Korea has long railed against the drills.
It contradicted countless previous declarations by US political and military officials over the years that the drills are routine and defensive.
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