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.
Mr Trump is sounding optimistic about the summit.
Mr Trump said at the beginning of expanded discussions with aides from both countries that "we will solve a big problem" and "a big dilemma."
He talked about the pair achieving "tremendous success together" and predicts that "it will be successful. It will be done."
It was hard to hear the president and Mr Kim over the constant clicking of camera shutters, but Mr Kim appeared to share Mr Trump's optimism.
A transcription of the exchange between Trump and Kim, shared on Twitter:
An interesting piece from information from the White House correspondent for the Shanghai Media Group, Ching-Yi Chang, who is travelling with the White House press pool in Singapore:
"According to Korean media, Mr Kim actually arrived at the summit venue 7 minutes earlier than Mr Trump to show respect, it’s cultural, the young one should arrive earlier than the elder one."
South Korean officials have been watching the Singapore summit very closely:
During one of the walks between meetings, Mr Kim was asked twice “Chairman Kim, will you denuclearize?” and did not answer. The third unanswered question was: “Mr. Kim, will you give up your nuclear weapons, sir?”
He walked with Mr Trump, ignoring the shouted questions.
The menu for the working lunch for Mr Trump and Mr Kim - plus the aides at the meeting. It includes prawn cocktail and beef short ribs as well as Oiseon (stuffed cucumber), Daegu jorim (soy braised cod fish with radish, Asian vegetables), and Tropezienne
According to Korean media the working lunch has started, which means the two leaders are likely tucking into their octopus and prawn.
As that lunch is going on, North Korean state media has been talking about Mr Kim's evening trip around Singapore the night before.
From Reuters:
Just hours after Kim Jong Un wrapped up a surprise evening sightseeing tour of Singapore on Monday, the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun crammed its front page with photographs snapped of the reclusive leader.
The official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea featured 14 photographs, covering more than half of the front page of its Tuesday issue, showing Kim jovially walking with oficials from the city-state at a tropical garden as well as beside an infinity pool.
The speed of the coverage in Rodong Sinmun and other state media is unusual in a country where events are often reported a full day, if not longer, after they happen.
The sense of fun in the reporting is also a contrast with the more sober way in which the North Korean media would usually handle an official trip.
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Here is a piece on the male-dominated extended bilateral meeting that has been part of the summit.
The Associated Press news wire appears to be bristling at the fact that only TV cameras and photographers were allowed at the start of the one-on-one meeting between Trump and Kim this morning.
It reports that the White House restricted journalists' access to portions of the summit that were made open to other media, despite long-standing arrangements intended to ensure the public is kept fully abreast of key presidential moments.
Under standard rules agreed to by the White House and the press corps, a full pool of reporters travels with the president at all times and is allowed at any meetings where press access in granted. The group includes media representatives who then pool the information they gather with other news outlets that couldn't attend.
During the photo-op at the start of Trump's one-on-one meeting with Kim, text reporters for newswires The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg were kept out of the pool, as were the designated representatives for radio and the foreign press corps.
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