Trump-Kim summit: meeting underway between US and North Korean leaders – live
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Version 8 of 37. A tweet by Ivanka Trump, which purports to be an English translation of a Chinese proverb, has been interpreted by some commentators as a veiled criticism of the Chinese government’s inability to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula. “Those who say it can not be done, should not interrupt those doing it.” -Chinese Proverb “Those who say it can not be done, should not interrupt those doing it,” she wrote on the morning of the summit. Chinese netizens trying to reverse translate the tweet say she seems to be referring to a phrase popular online in China that translates loosely as “Put up or shut up” or “If you can’t do it, don’t criticise others trying.” The phrase nixingnishang 你行你上啊 is often followed by buxingbie BB, 不行别BB. “BB” means to nag or to complain. The phrase is believed to have originated with Chinese NBA fans defending Kobe Bryant over a Lakers loss in 2012. Feng Wei, a professor of history at Fudan University in Shanghai, posted on Weibo: “How to translate this sentence is not important. What’s important is that by using a Chinese proverb Ivanka is saying to Chinese people, those who can’t complete something (China) should not interrupt those who are trying (America).” Chinese state media CCTV is broadcasting the summit live, but coverage of the summit has been light in China. The People’s Daily front page today made no mention of the summit, focusing instead on Chinese president Xi Jinping’s comments at a weekend summit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Our resident handshake analyst, Benjamin Haas, has this take on the 12-second handshake between the two leaders, and other things we learned from the first moments of the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. We have seen pictures from the working lunch. Trump, Kim and their negotiating parties will be eating at a long white table, which is set with green and white flowers. Representatives from the two sides are seated on either side of the table facing one another. As Trump and Kim entered the room, photographs were taken, with Trump joking about wanting to get a “beautiful picture” in which he looked good. Julian Borger, who is reporting from Singapore for the Guardian, has this interpretation of the scene: Trump and Kim and teams sit down for a working lunch. Asks photographers: "Did you get a beautiful photo that makes me look nice and handsome and thin and perfect?" Kim just gazes at cameras, looking somewhat stunned. According to Korean media, the “working lunch” between Trump and Kim has begun. We have just got through the menu for the working lunch, which Trump and Kim are due to sit down to in about five minutes. That means they’ll be eating lunch at 11:30am local time, which seems on the early side, but at least the menu looks delicious. They will be eating: Starters Traditional prawn cocktail served with avocado salad Green mango kerabu with honey lime dressing and fresh octopus “Oiseon” Korean stuffed cucumber Main course Beef short rib confit, served with potato dauphinois and steamed broccolini, red wine sauce on the side Combination of sweet and sour crispy pork and Yangzhou fried rice with homemade XO chilli sauce “Daegu jorim” soy braised cod fish with radish, Asian vegetables Desserts Dark chocolate tartlet ganache Haagendazs vanilla ice cream with cherry coulis Tropezienne Benjamin Haas Today might appear to some to be a case of life imitating art. North Korea detonates a nuclear bomb, followed swiftly by a meeting between its leader and the US president and the establishment of formal relations. Although this sounds worryingly close to real life, it is actually the plot of a four-part North Korean movie released in 2012.The four-part film, The Country I Saw (really a sequel to the 1980s film of that name), follows a Japanese professor who works out the true nature of North Korea’s nuclear program is to force the US into direct talks. The climax shows a dramatic nuclear explosion, forcing the US to send Bill Clinton to meet Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current leader. Jeffrey Lewis at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies wrote in a blog post that it showed North Korea “has concluded that its survival as a functioning state in the international system is entirely a product of its military capabilities”. In what is perhaps the best quote of the summit so far, pool reporters say that as they walked away together after shaking hands, Kim said to Trump: Many people in the world will think of this as a form of fantasy from a science fiction movie. The highly anticipated talks between the US president, Donald Trump, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, have started. Kim arrived first to the Capella hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore this morning. Trump and Kim met on the steps of the hotel and shook hands in front of a display of US and North Korean flags. The handshake lasted about 12 seconds, but was relatively benign by Trump standards. Before going in to their first talk of the day, Trump said he was confident the talks would be a “tremendous success”. Kim said “it has not been easy to get here” and that “The old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles, but we have overcome them and we are here today.” After their one-on-one discussion, Trump and Kim went into a talk with key advisers. Speaking to the press before this talk, Kim called the summit “a big prelude to peace”. “I believe so too,” said Trump. The bilateral meeting is scheduled to finish at 11.30am before Trump and Kim continue talks over a “working lunch”. The South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, has been photographed watching coverage of the summit and smiling. In a bizarre moment, Dennis Rodman, a retired US basketballer who has struck up a friendship with Kim, appeared on CNN crying as he spoke about the summit. South Korea's president and prime minister together watched a live stream of the summit opening. You can see their reaction on their faces #TrumpKimSummit pic.twitter.com/GPwa0gy3SB Trump and Kim are locked away for the “expanded bilateral” portion of today’s talks, which run until 11.30am local time. Unlike their first talk of the day, at which just Trump, Kim and their interpreters were present, at this talk the leaders are accompanied by their key advisers. Benjamin Haas and Julian Borger have this handy guide to who is in the room. We are getting pictures from the expanded bilateral talk now. The leaders are shaking hands again across the table and exchanging greetings. Their remarks were hard to catch over the noise of cameras, but Trump said the two leaders would “solve a big problem, a big dilemma that until this point has been unable to be solved.” Kim said through an interpreter: I believe this is a big prelude to peace... There will also be big challenges ahead but I’m willing to do this. “Will will solve it, we will be successful,” said Trump. “And I look forward to working on it with you. It will be done.” In the room with Trump is Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, the Republican consultant John Bolton, and John Kelly, the White House chief of staff. This meeting is scheduled to run for an hour and a half, before Trump and Kim have a working lunch. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have left their one-on-one talk. They emerged from the talks together. Kim was smiling and Trump was chatting to Kim as they waved to press from the balcony of the hotel. |