SINGAPORE - U.S. President Donald Trump
said on Monday his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un in Singapore could "work out very nicely" as officials
from both countries sought to narrow differences on how to end a
nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula.
Kim, one of the world's most reclusive leaders, made an
evening tour of sites on Singapore's waterfront, on the eve of
the summit that is due to get underway on Tuesday morning at a
nearby resort island.
While Trump was optimistic about prospects for the summit
between the old foes, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
injected a note of caution ahead of the first-ever meeting of
sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders, saying it remained to be
seen whether Kim was sincere about his willingness to
denuclearise.
Officials from the two sides held last-minute talks aimed at
laying the groundwork for a meeting that was almost unthinkable
just months ago when the two leaders were exchanging insults and
threats that raised fears of war.
But after a flurry of diplomatic overtures eased tension in
recent months, the two leaders are now headed for a
history-making handshake that U.S. officials hope could
eventually lead to the dismantling of a North Korean nuclear
programme that threatens the United States.
Offering a preview to reporters, Pompeo said it could
provide "an unprecedented opportunity to change the trajectory
of our relationship and bring peace and prosperity" to North
Korea.
However, he played down the possibility of a quick
breakthrough and said the summit should set the framework for
"the hard work that will follow", insisting that North Korea had
to move toward complete, verifiable and irreversible
denuclearisation.
North Korea, though, has shown little appetite for
surrendering nuclear weapons it considers vital to the survival
of Kim's dynastic rule.
Sanctions on North Korea would remain in place until that
had happened, Pompeo said. "If diplomacy does not move in the
right direction ... those measures will increase."
"North Korea has previously confirmed to us its willingness
to denuclearise and we are eager to see if those words prove
sincere," he said.
The White House later said discussions with North Korea had
moved "more quickly than expected" and Trump would leave
Singapore on Tuesday night, after the summit. He had earlier
been scheduled to leave on Wednesday.
Kim is due to leave on Tuesday afternoon, a source involved
in the planning of his visit, said on Sunday.
Kim was not believed to have left his hotel since a meeting
with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong soon after his
arrival in the city on Sunday, but he ventured out on Monday
evening.
The Swiss-educated leader, who is believed to be 34, has not
left his isolated country since taking office in 2011 other than
to visit China and the South Korean side of the border
Demilitarised Zone, which separates the two Koreas.
His first stop was a waterfront park with futuristic
installations, Gardens by the Bay, which boasts the largest
glass greenhouse and tallest indoor waterfall in the world.
He joined Singapore's foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan,
who took a selfie, before stopping at the Marina Bay Sands
hotel, which resembles a giant surfboard perched on three tall
columns, for a look out over the bright lights of the city from
its rooftop garden and swimming pool.
On the way back to his hotel, Kim walked along a promenade
near the Merlion, a giant statue, and fountain, of a mythical
creature, half lion, half fish - Singapore's unofficial mascot.
The rare public appearance of Kim, waving and smiling to
onlookers, adds to the more affable image of the young leader
that has emerged since his summit in April with South Korean
leader Moon Jae-in.
Just a few months ago, Kim was an international pariah
accused of ordering the killing of his uncle, a half-brother and
scores of officials suspected of disloyalty.
'INTERESTING MEETING'
Trump arrived in Singapore on Sunday after a blow-up over
trade with other members of the Group of Seven major
industrialised nations that cast a cloud over his efforts to
score a major foreign policy win in the nuclear talks.
Although gaps remain over what denuclearisation would
entail, Trump sounded a positive note in a lunch meeting with
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee.
"We've got a very interesting meeting ... tomorrow, and I
just think it's going to work out very nicely," Trump said.
It was a far cry from last year when Trump threatened North
Korea with "fire and fury" and mocked Kim as "little rocket
man," and Kim denounced the U.S. president as the "mentally
deranged U.S. dotard."
Trump and Kim are staying in separate hotels less that a
kilometre apart in the famous Orchard Road area of Singapore,
dotted with high-rise luxury apartment blocks, offices and
glittering shopping malls.
Commenting for the first time on the summit, North Korea's
state-run KCNA news agency said the two sides would exchange
"wide-ranging and profound views" to re-set relations. It
heralded the summit as part of a "changed era".
Discussions would focus on "the issue of building a
permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean
peninsula, the issue of realising the denuclearisation of the
Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern", KCNA said.
In the lead up to the summit, North Korea rejected any
unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA's reference to
denuclearisation of the peninsula has historically meant it
wants the United States to remove its "nuclear umbrella"
protecting South Korea and Japan.
RISK
The White House said Trump would hold a one-on-one meeting
with Kim on Tuesday on the small island of Sentosa. The two will
later be joined by officials and have lunch together.
Many experts on North Korea, one of the most insular and
unpredictable countries in the world, remain sceptical Kim will
ever completely abandon nuclear weapons. They believe Kim's
engagement is aimed at getting the United States to ease the
crippling sanctions that have squeezed the impoverished country.
Kelsey Davenport, director for Nonproliferation Policy at
the Arms Control Association, said there were signs that the
gaps between the two sides were narrowing but there was also
risk.
"Trump is likely to declare the summit a victory
irrespective of the outcome, but if the two sides fail to reach
a common understanding of denuclearisation it will put at risk
any process that the summit kicks off," he said.
"The process could be doomed before it begins."
Trump initially touted the potential for a grand bargain
with North Korea to rid itself of a nuclear missile programme
that has advanced rapidly to threaten the United States.
But he has since lowered expectations, backing away from an
original demand for North Korea's swift denuclearisation.
He has said the talks would be more about starting a
relationship with Kim for a negotiating process that would take
more than one summit.
($1 = 1.3336 Singapore dollars)