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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
Former US Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, who negotiated with North Korea a generation ago, is looking for three signals that the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-unn has been a success, he told Reuters.
The first thing to look out for is whether the two hit it off in person.
"I could envision a situation where both leaders leave in a fit of anger, so it needs to end on a cordial note," he said.
"Secondly it needs to agree on some statements of principle on heading towards a nuclear-free [Korean] peninsula, and third it needs to have started the process: actual steps in that direction, agreeing on some first steps."
Mr Trump has said he will know in the first minute whether or not he can get a deal with Mr Kim.
"I'm hopeful that he's right," said Mr Perry, who negotiated with North Korea during Bill Clinton's presidency in the 1990s.
↵There are reports that Kim Jong-un may take an evening tour of attractions on Singapore's waterfront, which would be his first appearance outside of his hotel today. As it approaches 10pm in Singapore, both leaders may prefer some last-minute preparation.
With around 11 hours until Mr Kim and Mr Trump meet, here is what is likely to up for discussion:
↵Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has engaged in some Twitter diplomacy, posting an image with Kim Jong-un.
Mr Kim is taking his evening stroll, with his first destination a waterfront park with futuristic installations, Gardens by the Bay, which boasts the largest glass greenhouse and tallest indoor waterfall in the world.
Police and onlookers were also seen gathering outside the Marina Bay Sands hotel - a place Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam had visited on a number of occasions.
Some pictures are coming in from Kim Jong-un's short trip out of his hotel. He was said to have been greeted by chants of his name at points.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un visits The Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, (Edgar Su/Reuters)
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said he will be the first one to applaud Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un if they reach a deal on nuclear weapons disarmament of the Korean Peninsula.
Mr Le Drian said that "everything that has to do with disarmament is positive."
The French foreign minister met on Monday with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom in Stockholm. Mr Le Drian cautioned "we have been enthusiastic before and it has led to failures."
Mr Wallstrom hosted talks in March with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Stockholm. She said one should be prepared for both "a fruitful meeting and a failure."
The White House has said that Donald Trump will visit military bases in both Guam and Hawaii on his way back from Singapore.
Guam was the subject of a missile threat from Pyongyang last year, while Hawaii has been preparing its citizens for the possibly of a missile attack. A false incoming missile alert was sent in error to residents of Hawaii back in January.
↵
There was obviously quite a bit of media attention for Kim Jong-un as he strolled around Singapore, as the video below shows. The North Korean leader took a number of selfies with Singapore officials. Such images have sparked criticism on social media, with some suggesting that the hosts of the summit should not taking photos with Mr Kim, given his country's human rights record.
The United Nations is prepared to play a verification role if asked following talks in Singapore between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
“Relevant parts of the United Nations system stand ready to support this process in any way, including verification if requested by the key parties. They are the protagonists,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
That verification may relate to any possible deal on missiles or Pyongyang's nuclear programme, with the UN helping to track whether anything agreed is being carried out. We are some way away from that yet though.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has arrived in Singapore, hours before President Donald Trump is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time.
Mr Rodman emerged from the baggage claim area at Changi airport around midnight. Last week, Mr Rodman said he would "give whatever support is needed" to his "friends" Mr Trump and Kim.
White House officials have said Rodman will play no official role in the diplomatic negotiations. Mr Trump said last week that Rodman had not been invited to the summit.
He is one of the few westerners to have met the North Korean leader on visits to the capital city Pyongyang.
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