The world to watch out for Trump-Kim Singapore meet on June 12; updates

The United States (US) President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, the first-ever summit between the top leaders of the two Cold War rivals to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump's announcement came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned home from North Korea with three detained Americans. Trump, who personally greeted the trio at the Andrews Air Force Base, praised Kim for their release ahead of their summit.

In April, Trump had stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet Kim Jong-un in an unprecedented sit-down. Trump and Kim had previously traded insults and threats. The breakthrough came after the recent landmark talks between North and South Korea.

At a summit, last month, Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons, although the means of achieving this were not detailed.

The main issue under discussion at the Trump-Kim summit will be North Korea's nuclear weapons, which the US is demanding Pyongyang give up. There has been no word from North Korea on its agenda or what it might offer, although a key issue is certain to be the presence of 30,000 US military personnel in South Korea, along with the removal of sanctions.

Trump has struck a cautiously optimistic tone in discussing the prospects of reaching a deal during his upcoming summit with Kim, saying he is hopeful a historic agreement can be brokered while also warning the talks could prove unfruitful.

The summit, which has been in the works since Trump accepted Kim's invitation to meet in March, will be the first-ever meeting between a sitting US president and North Korean leader.

US officials had also considered holding the summit at the Korean demilitarized zone or in Mongolia, but ultimately settled on the city-state of Singapore as the location.

Singapore has been used before for high-profile diplomatic occasions. In 2015, the leaders of China and Taiwan held historic talks in the South East Asian city-state - their first in more than 60 years, the BBC reported.

The US and Singapore have a close relationship. Singapore has diplomatic ties with North Korea but suspended all trade with Pyongyang in November last year as US-led international sanctions were tightened following a series of provocative actions by the reclusive state.

Here are the top highlights on Donald Trump's upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un:

1. Trump to meet Kim on June 12 in Singapore for World Peace: United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the highly anticipated meeting between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place in Singapore on June 12.

Trump took to Twitter to break the news. "The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!," Trump tweeted.

The meet marks the first time that a sitting US president will meet with a North Korean head of state.

Trump's announcement came after he and Vice President Mike Pence received three former American detainees who returned from North Korea on Thursday.

2. Meeting with Trump will be positive development, says Kim: Breaking his silence over the planned meeting with Donald Trump, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un said that he was looking forward to meeting the US President, which is a positive development.

The North's Korean Central News Agency report said, citing Yonhap News Agency, "He (Kim) said that the coming (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) DPRK-US summit would be a historic meeting for the excellent first step toward promotion of the positive situation development in the Korean peninsula and building of a good future."

"At the meeting, an in-depth discussion was made on the practical matters for holding the DPRK-US summit and its procedure and ways. Kim Jong-un reached a satisfactory consensus on the issues discussed with the US state secretary," the KCNA report added.

3. Trump personally welcomes 3 Americans freed by North Korea; thanks Kim Jong-un: Donald Trump on Thursday thanked Kim Jong-un for releasing three American detainees as he personally welcomed them back to the US, a development seen as a diplomatic win for him ahead of his planned summit with the North Korean leader.

The Americans — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim — were freed on Wednesday by North Korea while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on a visit to the North Korean capital Pyongyang to finalise the details of the summit.

summit, says Trump

The trio had been jailed for anti-state activities and placed in North Korean labour camps.

Trump and his wife Melania entered the plane outfitted with medical facilities after it landed in the early hours of Thursday and a few minutes later emerged with the three Americans of South Korean origin to wave to the media. "We're starting off on a new footing. This is a wonderful thing that he released the folks early," Trump said. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence were also on hand to welcome the three men home.

 

On behalf of the American people, WELCOME HOME! pic.twitter.com/hISaCI95CB

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2018

4. 'Release felt like a dream': Speaking to the media on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, Kim Dong Chul said his release felt "like a dream."

"We are very, very happy," he said.

The three former detainees earlier issued a joint statement thanking Trump for their release.

"We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home," the trio said.

5. Trump's proudest achievement would be denuclearisation: Asked if the release of three Americans was his proudest achievement, Trump said that would be "when we denuclearise that entire peninsula".

"It's a great honour. But the true honour is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons," he said.

Trump was also asked about the prospects of making a deal with the North Korean leader.

"I really think he wants to do something and bring his country into the real world," Trump said.

"I think this will be a very big success. It's never been taken this far, there's never been a relationship like this."

Trump has previously said the release of the three Americans was part of working towards the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

6. Singapore a gateway between Asia and the West: Singapore has long been seen as a gateway between Asia and the West, and today remains a close ally to Washington and also hosts a US military presence. Singapore has been used before for high-profile diplomatic occasions. 

The US and Singapore have a close relationship. Singapore has diplomatic ties with North Korea but suspended all trade with Pyongyang in November last year as US-led international sanctions were tightened following a series of provocative actions by the reclusive state.

It is also one of just 47 countries to host a North Korean embassy.

7. Kim meets Xi at Wuhan-style summit, says hopeful about meeting with Prez Trump: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he is hopeful that his planned meeting with US President Donald Trump will build mutual trust and lead to phased and synchronous measures to achieve denuclearisation and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Xi and Kim had a surprise Wuhan-style informal summit in the northeastern port city of Dalian yesterday and today, their second meeting in two months.

In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, Xi and Kim had an all-round and in-depth exchange of views on China-North Korea relations and major issues of common concern, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Speaking about his high-profile summit with Trump in the coming weeks, Kim expressed hope that the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea) and the US would build mutual trust through dialogue.