Kim-Trump summit highlights: US President meets North Korean leader in Singapore, commits to denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula
US President Donald Trump signed what he called a “very comprehensive” document with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, capping a highly anticipated US-North Korea summit aimed at overcoming decades of hostility. Here are the live updates.
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Singapore on Tuesday in a historic US-North Korea summit that could lead to peace between the two countries that have technically been at war for 68 years or end in new recriminations.
The two leaders warmly shook hands for around 13 seconds in front of a row of alternating US and North Korean flags. They then moved into a roughly 40-minute one-on-one meeting, joined only by their interpreters before including their advisers for bilateral talks and a working lunch.
Trump and Kim concluded the extraordinary US-North Korea summit by signing a “comprehensive” document in which the US president pledged “security guarantees” to the North and Kim reiterated his commitment to “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Here are the live updates:
7.15pm: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, host of the historic Trump-Kim summit, hails as a “dramatic step forward” the agreement signed between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.
In identical letters to US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Lee congratulates them on the successful conclusion of the summit. “It is a crucial first move in the long journey towards lasting peace and stability on a denuclearised Korean Peninsula,” Lee writes in both the letters.
5:46pm: Malaysia will re-open its embassy in Pyongyang, the prime minister said, more than a year after the assassination of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur triggered a diplomatic row, reports AFP.
5.04pm: China pitches for the lifting of sanctions imposed on North Korea, soon after US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong un pledged to work towards denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
4.50pm: Sri Lankan government minister for national integration and languages, Mano Ganesan, hails the US and North Korean leaders’ summit in Singapore as an “example” to the world. “Despite all foul talks world shall salute both #trump & #kim for setting an example for talking over warring,” tweets Mano Ganesan, as he praises US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for engaging in negotiations.
4.38pm: US President Donald Trump flies out of Singapore after a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Shortly before Air Force One takes off for Guam, where en route for Hawaii and Washington he is expected to greet US troops, Trump says “there was nothing more we could have done” in the talks with Kim.
4:35pm: UN’s nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the agency is ready to help verify any future agreements between the US and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
4:20pm: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov approves Trump-Kim meeting, saying: “The mere fact of the meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea is positive ... We are following the comments that both sides are making but we have not seen the document yet, we’ll see,” Lavrov was quoted as saying
4pm: Iran warns Kim not to trust Donald Trump, saying he could cancel their denuclearisation agreement within hours. “We don’t know what type of person the North Korean leader is negotiating with. It is not clear that he would not cancel the agreement before returning back home,” Iran’s government spokesman, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, was quoted as saying by IRNA new agency.
3.58 pm: Russia has a positive assessment of the deal between Trump and Kim, but “the devil is in the detail”, TASS news agency quotes deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
3.56 pm: US president Donald Trump leaves Singapore after summit with North Korea.
3.39 pm: Singapore agreement will end Cold War, South Korea president says. “Leaving dark days of war and conflict behind, we will write a new chapter of peace and cooperation,” Moon said in a statement released by his office. “We will be there together with North Korea along the way.”
3.15 pm: Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang says the country “welcomed and supported” efforts by North Korea and the US to reach consensus on denuclearization and establish a mechanism for peace.
2.50 pm: India says it welcomes the US- North Korea summit held in Singapore.
This is a positive development. India has always supported all efforts to bring about peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy: MEA
2.49 pm: To me it’s a very important event in world history. To be really true to myself, I have to add I really want to get it completed. If you don’t get the ball over the goal line, it doesn’t mean enough: Donald Trump
2.47 pm: Japan PM hails Trump-Kim agreement as ‘first step’ towards denuclearisation.
2.46 pm: Trump says Justin Trudeau’s comments after G7 row will cost Canada ‘a lot of money’.
2.46 pm: I really believe he (Kim Jong Un) will do it (denuclearise North Korea): Trump
2.45 pm: “As an example, they have great beaches,” Trump says about North Korea, “You see that whenever they are exploding the cannons into the ocean. I said, ‘Boy look at that view.’ Wouldn’t that would make a great condo? I said, ‘Instead of doing that, you could have the best hotels in the world. Think of it from a real estate perspective.”
2.43 pm: We’re probably going to need another summit, says Donald Trump
2.39 pm: “I do” trust Kim Jong Un, says Donald Trump.
2.28 pm: North Korea did a great thing by going to the Olympics: Trump
2.25 pm: “I gave up nothing. I’m here. I haven’t slept in 25 hours, but I thought it was appropriate to do,” says Donald Trump.
2.20pm: Trump says follow-up US-North Korea talks to take place next week.
2.18 pm: I don’t want to be threatening: Trump in reply to question if North Korea doesn’t follow through with the declaration.
2.13 pm: Donald Trump says that as long as talks with North Korea are ongoing, “I believe it’s inappropriate to be conducting war games.”
2.10 pm: Scientifically, it takes a long time [to denuclearize]...But once you start the process, the good thing is they can’t make them: Donald Trump
2.06 pm: Trump says human rights ‘was discussed’ with Kim Jong Un.
“I believe it’s a rough situation over there…We did discuss it today, pretty strongly…We’ll be doing something on it. It’s rough in a lot of places, by the way,” says Trump.
2.03 pm: At a certain time I will (be travelling to Pyongyang)…And I will be inviting Chairman Kim, at the appropriate time, to the White House: Trump
1.57 pm: Sanctions will remain in effect in North Korea: Donald Trump.
The sanctions will come off when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor,” says Trump. “I hope it is soon... at a certain point I look forward to taking them off.”
1.56 pm: President Donald Trump says he will be ending joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea.
“We will be stopping the war games and it will save us a lot of money,” says Trump.
“I think it’s very provocative,” he says.
1.53 pm: Trump says that North Korea has agreed to destroy a major missile engine test site, which wasn’t included as part of the written declaration.
1.50 pm: Anyone can make war, but only the most courageous can make peace: Donald Trump
“Chairman Kim has before him an opportunity like no other to be remembered as the leader who ushered in a glorious new era of prosperity for his people,” says Trump
1.50 pm: We got to know each other well in a very confined period of time under very strong, strong circumstances: Trump
1.48 pm: Past doesn’t have to define the future... We have shown that real change is possible: Trump
1.47 pm: Want to thank Chairman Kim for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people...Meeting with Kim was honest, direct and productive: Trump
1.45 pm: It’s a place with tremedous potentional, between China and North Korea: Donald Trump on North Korea
1.34 pm: Trump tweets a video comprising of montages from the meeting with Kim Jong Un.
1.30 pm: Trump to participates in a media availability shortly.
12.20 pm:”The United States and North Korea have been in a state of antagonism for more than half a century,” says Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. “Today, that the two countries’ highest leaders can sit together and have equal talks, has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history.”
12.07 pm: Four points of the Trump and Kim joint statement:
1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
2. “The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
11.55 am: Trump-Kim document commits US to ‘security guarantees’, reports AFP.
11.43 am: Kim Jong Un leaves Singapore’s Sentosa island after meeting with Donald Trump.
11.33 am: Trump, Kim Jong Un shake hands, exchange farewells without interpreters as Singapore summit ends.
11.27 am: Donald Trump says “We’ll meet again…we’ll meet many times.”
“I learned he’s a very talented man. I also learned that he loves his country very much,” says Trump.
11.19 am: Trump says ‘We have developed a very special bond’ and ‘absolutely’ willing to invite Kim Jong Un to the White House.
11.15 am: “We’re very proud of what took place today... I think our whole relationship with North Korea and the Korean Peninsula is going to be a very much different situation than it has in the past,” says Trump.
11.13 am: “We are starting that process very, very quickly,” says Donald Trump on response to question if there was an agreement to denuclearise North Korea.
11. 12 am: We had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind and we’re about to sign a historic document. The world will see a major change. I want to express my gratitude to President Trump for making this meeting happen, says Kim Jong Un as he signs document along with Donald Trump.
11.09 am: We’re both very honoured to sign the document: Donald Trump
11.09 am: We’re signing a very important document, a pretty comprehensive documents, says Donald Trump.
10.35 am: President Trump and Kim Jong Un will sign an agreement to acknowledge the progress of the talks and pledge to keep momentum going, a US official tells CNN.
10.25 am: Donald Trump shows Kim Jong Un interior of presidential limousine known as ‘The Beast’ as they stroll during summit.
10.13 am: Trump hails ‘really fantastic’ meeting with Kim, says ‘a lot of progress’ made.
“It’s going great,” Trump tells reporters, with Kim at his side. “We had a really fantastic meeting. A lot of progress. Really very positive, I think better than anybody could have expected. Top of the line. Really good.”
10.12 am: : Trump, with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, announces they will sign unspecified document shortly.
10.10 am: Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un working lunch concludes.
9.30 am: “Getting a good picture everybody?” Mr. Trump asks photographers ahead of the lunch. “So we look nice and handsome and thin? Perfect.”
9.26 am: Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sit down at long, rectangular table for working lunch in Singapore.
9.20 am: Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper prints a special edition in both Japanese and English that was distributed for free in Tokyo one hour after the meeting began, reports AP.
9.15 am: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will be served a working lunch that combines the flavours of East and West.
8.20 am: Three South Korean protesters outside the Capella Hotel are demanding Kim Jong Un free the remaining hostages from the Korean war, reports South China Morning Post.
7. 50 am: “I too spent a sleepless night. I, along with all our people, sincerely hope that it will be a successful summit that will open a new era of complete denuclearization, peace and a new relationship between South Korea, North Korea and the United States,” says South Korean President Moon Jae-In, reports Yonhap news agency.
This is the second meeting after 45-minute one-on-one talks between the two leaders with only their interpreters.
7.29 am: After their first meeting, Kim is heard telling Trump through a translator: “I think the entire world is watching this moment. Many people in the world will think of this as a scene from a fantasy...science fiction movie,” reports to Reuters.
“We overcame all kinds of scepticism and speculations about this summit and I believe that this is good for the peace...I believe this is a good prelude for peace.” says Kim.
7.28 am: Donald Trump predicts that he and Kim Jong Un ‘will solve a big problem, a big dilemma’.
7. 26 am: Trump says one-on-one meeting with Kim Jong Un was ‘very, very good,’ says they have an ‘excellent relationship’.
7. 25 am: Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk together along balcony after one-on-one meeting.
7.23 am: Closed-door meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un concludes, reports CNN.
7.15 am: Go into the meeting with Kim Jong Un with your “heart on the table,” and focus on the future: Former NBA star Dennis Rodman advice to Donald Trump as he appears on TV channel CNN .
Rodman is one of the few westerners to have met the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. The former star has made five trips to North Korea’s capital since Kim took power and flew into Singapore on Monday for the historic summit.
7.10 am: Video of Donald Trump shaking hands with Kim Jong Un.
6.50 am: Closed door meeting between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump underway, reports TV channel CNN.
6.46 am: Kim Jong Un says “we came here after overcoming” all the obstacles.
He says “there will be challenges ahead” but vows to work with Trump.
Kim says through an interpreter: “It wasn’t easy for us to come here. There was a past that grabbed our ankles and wrong prejudices and practices that at times covered our eyes and ears. We overcame all that and we are here now.”
6.43 am: Trump says, “we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt.”
“I feel really great. It’s gonna be a great discussion and I think tremendous success. I think it’s gonna be really successful and I think we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt,” Trump responds when asked how he felt in the first minute.
6.40 am: “Nice to meet you Mr President,” says Kim Jong Un as he sits down alongside Donald Trump.
6.39 am: Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for photographs together at summit site in Singapore.
6.36 am: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un shake hands as historic summit begins.
The historic handshake lasts for 13 seconds, Trump reaches out to touch Kim’s shoulder, looking down at the shorter man as he spoke.
6.27 am: Kim Jong Un steps out of limousine at venue for summit.
6.16 am: Ahead of summit, Donald Trump tweets that his top economic advisor Larry Kudlow has suffered a heart attack.
6.07 am: Trump is scheduled to meet Kim for the first time at 9 am local time (6.30 am IST)
6.05 am: The two leaders are expected to share a handshake before they meet alone with a pair of interpreters for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby.
6.04 am: Kim Jong Un’s convoy arrives at summit venue. His black armored limousine with two large North Korean flags is surrounded by police vehicles, their lights flashing, and other black cars.
5.50 am: Donald Trump arrives at Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, a resort island off Singapore’s port with luxury hotels.