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
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
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".
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
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.
More details are emerging of Mr Trump's interview with Sean Hannity, one of his most loyal supporters, on Fox News.
He was bullish about the chances of denuclearisation - as defined by the US - taking place.
He said of Kim Jong-un: "His country has to be de-nuked and he understood that, he fully understood that, he didn’t fight it."
Donald Trump has admitted he sometimes "felt foolish" lobbing insults at Kim Jong-in during the two leaders' histrionic war of words last year.
However, he claimed without his aggressive rhetoric today's summit may never have happened.
Mr Trump infamously threatened to unleash "fire and fury" and dubbed the North Korean leader "Little Rocket Man" during an escalating feud that raised fears of a new world war.
He told Sean Hannity: "I hated to do it. Sometimes I felt foolish doing it. But we had no choice.
"I think without the rhetoric we wouldn't have been here."
He compared his stance to previous administrations' "a policy of silence" when enemies "said something very bad and very threatening and horrible."
"That's not the answer," said Mr Trump
The full interview will air on Fox News tonight.
The European Union has welcomed the US-North Korea summit, which it said "reaffirms our strong conviction that diplomacy is the only way forward towards lasting peace on the Korean peninsula".
The bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the meeting was "a crucial and necessary step to build upon the positive developments achieved in inter-Korean relations."
Pointedly, she singled out the president of South Korea - rather than the US - for praise.
The summit came about "thanks to the leadership, wisdom and determination" of Moon Jae-in, suggested Ms Mogherini.
She added the Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un's joint statement "gives a clear signal" that a nuclear-free Korean peninsula was achievable.
South Korea has offered to help find the remains of US military personnel missing in action and presumed killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
President Moon Jae-in's office said he made the proposal during a phone conversation with Donald Trump following his meeting with Kim Jong-un in Singapore earlier today.
Mr Moon told Mr Trump the summit was a success that laid down a "big framework" for peace in the Korean Peninsula and the world, according to officials in Seoul.
The UN nuclear watchdog has said it would carry out any verification role it was asked to in North Korea, though that would depend on further talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
Dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme - if that is what they agree to - and verifying it is likely to be a large and complex task.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said it is best placed to verify a deal, though focuses on monitoring nuclear materials and sites rather than disarmament.
"The IAEA will closely follow the negotiations to be held between the two countries to implement the outcomes of the U.S.-DPRK Summit," IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said in a statement, using the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"The IAEA stands ready to undertake any verification activities in the DPRK that it may be requested to conduct by the countries concerned, subject to authorisation by the IAEAâs Board of Governors," said Amano.
IAEA inspectors have not returned to North Korea since they were expelled from there in 2009.
The Democrat leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, has called it "very worrisome" that the joint statement released by President Trump and Kim Jong-un at the end of their summit is "so imprecise".
Mr Schumer said the lack of clarity and detail means the US has given up "substantial leverage" on Pyongyang.
The US political reaction is now rolling in about the Singapore summit.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it was difficult to assess what had happened at the summit between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"While I am glad the president and Kim Jong Un were able to meet, it is difficult to determine what of concrete nature has occurred," he said in a statement. "I look forward to having Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo before our committee soon to share his insights and look forward to carrying out our oversight responsibilities."
Even Republican leadership has sounded a note of caution. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called the meeting a "major first step," in US-North Korea relations, but not a decisive one if North Korea does not follow through.
"The next steps in negotiations will test whether we can get to a verifiable deal," Mr McConnell said on the Senate floor. He added, "We and our allies must be prepared to restore the policy of maximum pressure."
That was echoed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said, "Only time will tell if North Korea is serious this time, and in the meantime we must continue to apply maximum economic pressure."
Democrat senator from Delaware, Chris Coons said: "This was a dream outcome for Kim Jong-un... legitimacy on the world stage, an invitation to the White House, no concessions on human rights, and no clear concessions on a timeline or a process for denuclearisation."
"For this agreement with North Korea to mean anything, for it to be anything more than a reality TV handshake summit, there’s going to need to be a lot of hard work in the months ahead and I’m concerned that the Trump Administration isn’t prepared to do that hard work," Mr Coons said in an interview with MSNBC.
↵Amid such scepticism, here is the take of our columnist David Usborne:
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments