Donald Trump and Kim Jung-Un. Photo courtesy of CNN.
Summary: President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un are preparing to meet in Singapore for Tuesday’s summit.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump will meet North Korea’s leader for their first ever summit. According to the New York Times, the purpose of the meeting is to end “seven decades of hostility and the threat of a nuclear confrontation.”
The United States’ goal is to denuclearize North Korea, and North Korea’s Kim Jung-Un wants to be recognized as a global power. Kim also wants American weapons to be removed from the Korean Peninsula.
The US-Korean summit will begin on Tuesday at 9am. Trump arrived in Singapore fresh from the Group of 7 meeting in Quebec, where he had tense discussions with US allies about trade and other key issues. At the rocky meeting, Trump clashed heavily with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who Trump badmouthed on Twitter afterward as “very dishonest & weak.”
The White House released a statement that the meeting between Trump and Kim will last 45 minutes and only their translators will be present. Following the one-on-one, there will be a 90-minute gathering with them and other officials, followed by a group lunch. According to Politico, “That broader delegation will include National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has chafed the North Koreans with his hawkish and deeply skeptical view of the negotiations.”
Politico said that the meeting between the two leaders is expected to go well and is moving at a fast pace.
“The discussions between the United States and North Korea are ongoing and have moved more quickly than expected,” the White House statement read.
Before the summit, Trump has chosen to stay in his hotel, but Kim is venturing out. Politico said that he headed to the famous Marina Bay Sands resort, where he was met with applause and good will.
Earlier Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US was planning to offer North Korea security in exchange for their commitment to getting rid of their nuclear weapons.
“I’m not going to get into any of the details of the discussions that we’ve had to date. I can only say this: We’re prepared to take what will be security assurances that are different, unique, than have been provided — than America has been willing to provide previously,” Pompeo said. “We think this is both necessary and appropriate.”
Pompeo said that the US would not lessen sanctions against North Korea unless the country got rid of their nuclear weapons. He stated that he believes Tuesday’s meeting will go well.
“I’m very optimistic that we will have a successful outcome from tomorrow’s meeting between the two leaders,” Pompeo told reporters. “It’s the case, in each of those two countries, [where] there are only two people that can make decisions of this magnitude. And those two people are going to be sitting in a room together tomorrow.”
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