Trump’s summit with Kim gives “unprecedented opportunity” to change North Korea’s course says US secretary of state
US President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un tomorrow is “an unprecedented opportunity” to reset relations with the pariah state, the US secretary of state said today.
Mike Pompeo said the summit could “change the trajectory of our relationship and bring peace and prosperity” to North Korea, according to Reuters.
Trump earlier said that “I think things could work out very nicely” while thanking Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for hosting the historic event.
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The meeting between Trump and Kim will take place face-to-face, with only two translators accompanying them, CNN reported. It will be followed by a bilateral meeting and a working lunch.
Pompeo said the summit must result in a move towards denuclearisation from North Korea before considering any loosening of sanctions on the country.
However, North Korea has previously proved to be unwilling to countenance the dismantling of its nuclear programme, which it has trumpeted as a sign of its status and the regime’s power.
At the end of May Trump cancelled a potential meeting with Kim after the regime balked at a reference to Libya’s denuclearisation; Libyan despot Muammar Gaddafi died after his regime was overthrown.
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The high-stakes summit seemed all but impossible at the start of this year, with Trump and Kim trading public provocations, including a tweet from the former in which he boasted about the size of his “Nuclear Button”.
Yet the unlikely meeting has become a key aim for the White House, with one of Trump’s senior economic advisers yesterday saying a desire to look strong ahead of the summit lay behind a decision to pull out of a communique at the G7 meeting of world leaders.
Trump had agreed to sign the joint statement, but pulled out via Twitter after hearing of comments by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticising the US tariffs.
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