Singapore to host Trump-Kim meeting
Washington
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on Thursday he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore.
"The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" The event will be the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
In a statement late Thursday night, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Republic is "pleased to host the meeting... and hopes the meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula."
Singapore - almost 5,000 km south of Pyongyang - represents neutral turf for the two leaders. The city-state boasts security partnerships with the US, a North Korean embassy and strong ties with China.
Singapore also has a history of putting together high-profile diplomatic events at short notice, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping's historic 2015 meeting with his then-counterpart from Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. That meeting was arranged under a shroud of secrecy, something Singapore has shown itself adept at handling.
Still, Mr Kim's agreement to travel so far from the safety of Pyongyang - the farthest he's ever been as leader - could be seen as a concession by North Korea.
Mr Trump heads into the summit hoping to gain an agreement from Mr Kim to give up his nuclear weapons and end North Korea's ballistic missile programme. US intelligence agencies have warned that the regime is on the verge of being able to mount a nuclear strike against the US mainland.
In what is viewed as an early diplomatic concession, Mr Kim released three US prisoners held in North Korea. Mr Trump greeted them when they returned to Washington early on Thursday morning.
Mr Trump said on their arrival that he had high hopes for their planned meeting. "I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful... "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearise that entire peninsula." BLOOMBERG
