Trump-Kim summit: North Korea commits to 'work towards complete denuclearisation' – live
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Version 15 of 37. Trump insists that Kim is “very talented” despite North Korea’s human rights record. Otto Warmbier did not die in vain, Trump says. “Without Otto, this wouldn’t happen. Something happened that day,” he says. Trump claims the agreement will help the US save a lot of money. Trump embellishes the agreement by claiming Kim has given his “unwavering commitment” to denuclearisation. He says after the the document was signed Kim agreed verbally to destroying North Korea’s “major missile engine testing site”. “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,” Trump says. Trump jokes about feeling very uncomfortable in front of so many journalists as he invites questions. Trump begins his press conference by saying that North Korea has the potential to be a great place. He says he and Kim have spent “intensive hours together”. He thanks Singapore for hosting the summit and pays tribute to the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan. He thanks Kim for taking a bold step for his people. It proves that real change is possible, he says. The meeting was honest, direct and productive, Trump says. Adversaries can indeed become friends, Trump claims. There is no limit to what North Korea can achieve when it gives up nuclear weapons and embraces commerce, Trump says. Trump has told ABC that he trusts Kim and Kim trusts him. He also confirmed he had spoken on the phone to Kim before the summit. President Trump just told me that he trusts NK leader Kim Jong Un: “he trusts me and I trust him.” https://t.co/9qUreOKv8J NEW: @GStephanopoulos has just wrapped an interview with President Trump, who confirmed this summit was not the first time he's spoken with Kim Jong Un. They've spoken on the phone. US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, claims officials are already working on the all-important detail of the commitments. Preparing for future work ahead to deliver on the commitments made at the #singaporesummit @StateDept pic.twitter.com/lchhB0Qq7h Trump seems keen on the optics of the summit. He’s just tweeted this video. pic.twitter.com/tJG3KIn2q0 A couple more thoughts on the agreement ... Bullet point 3 is clearly the crucial part of this statement, about the question of nuclear disarmament, and it is fairly weak, certainly a long way away from the brisk disarmament of North Korea Trump officials were promising in advance of this summit. For one thing it says that North Korea will work towards denuclearisation, which a fairly flimsy diplomatic word. Also it references the Panmunjom Declaration signed by Kim and the South Korean president Moon Jae-in in April. That talks about “the common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean peninsula” - in other words, North Korean nuclear disarmament would take place as part of a global nuclear disarmament, so no time soon. China’s foreign ministry has said the international community could consider lifting economic sanctions on North Korea after the agreement signed today, according to Reuters. This suggestion by Chinese officials signal the US policy of “maximum pressure” is already showing signs of cracking. China represents more than 90 percent of Pyongyang’s trade and is in a position to provide much needed relief for the isolated regime. There are already reports that Kim’s charm offensive has lead China to relax restrictions on trade with the North, violating United Nations’ sanctions. All of this has come without substantial concessions from Pyongyang, despite a promise from the White House “maximum pressure” would endure until North Korea relinquishes its nuclear weapons Trump has been giving upbeat interviews with US broadcasters ahead of his press conference. Trump is doing an interview with Voice of America right now: https://t.co/vvlVjA9uPU Just finished talking with President Trump about the historic agreement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. More to come @ABC pic.twitter.com/7b5Hn0uSIe Sung Kim, US ambassador to the Philippines who has taken the lead on policy negotiations with North Korea has admitted “there is a lot of work left” as he waited to listen to Trump’s press conference in Singapore. Sung Kim: there’s a lot of work left, the two sides are committed to working intensively https://t.co/8hAFOytWzQ The pledges were vaguely-worded and did not represent an advance on similar agreements between their two countries over past decades. But the statement said there would be further meetings between senior officials to continue the momentum of the summit. Trump also drew attention to what he claimed was the warm personal chemistry established at the Singapore meeting, in arguing that it represented a breakthrough. The joint statement, signed by the two leaders after five hours of talks, laid out a basic bargain. “President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Previous agreements in 1994 and 2005 contained very similar promises, but they broke down over difference of interpretation, and spats over verification. Moreover, there is a gulf between the two sides idea of what denuclearisation will meet. The US is pushing for complete North Korean nuclear disarmament as quickly as possible. Pyongyang wants an open-ended process of negotiation in which it is treated as an equal. Commenting on the deal, Beatrice Fihn, the head of the Nobel prizewinning disarmament group, ICAN, said in a tweet: “We support diplomacy and peaceful solutions. But there is no agreement on nuclear disarmament and this all looked more like a big welcome party to the nuclear-armed club.” To be clear, this is better than nuclear war. But we cannot keep nuclear weapons forever (and add new nuclear armed states), because they will eventually be used one day. So, we need actual nuclear disarmament before a bomb goes off. https://t.co/J1ih0Z0Ngw Kim also undertook to cooperate with the US in the recovery of remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean war, a longstanding US request, which has so far produced only limited assistance Kim didn’t look too pleased when Trump joked about photographers making the two leaders look “nice and handsome and thin” before they sat down for their early working lunch. Kim's reaction to Donald Trump's joke is the best thing you will see all day today. #TrumpKimSummit pic.twitter.com/oLjVYIUApk US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims the summit has delivered for America. Note the word “swagger” in his tweet. State Dept team at #singaporesummit delivers for America #swagger @StateDept pic.twitter.com/r7zuXRWORh Earlier he hailed the joint statement as “the start of a new relationship”. President Trump & Chairman Kim sign historic #Singaporesummit joint statement, the start of a new relationship. pic.twitter.com/uxmniY3neo James Carafanom, a senior figure in Trump’s transition team now with the conservative Heritage Foundation thinktank, is cheerleading for the agreement. He claims Trump’s critics now look foolish because the summit has not been the disaster that some predicted. Trump critics look foolish 1) they predicted absolute disaster 2) was not Great Leap Forward but not great leap backward 3) critics called a disaster anyway-sad It’s only different if context is different if 1) US doesn’t compromise on maximum pressure 2) US doesn’t compromise on denuclearization demand https://t.co/3GJT9z3iPE Here’s what we know so far: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has committed Pyongyang to “work towards” the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in an agreement signed with Donald Trump in Singapore. It also commits the two countries “peace and prosperity”. The US and North Korea also agreed to recovering the remains of prisoners of war from the conflict between North and South Korea, and the immediate repatriation of those already identified. The vague nature of the agreement and the lack of other specific details was greeted with disappointment by analysts. Robert Kelly, professor of political science at Pusan National University, says the text is “even thinner than most sceptics anticipated”. China welcomed the summit as historic. The fact that the two leaders “can sit together and have equal talks has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history,” the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, told reporters. He also talked of the need for a peace mechanism for the peninsula. Trump has said his talks with Kim Jong-un were “better than anybody could imagine”. The two leaders initially met in private for 38 minutes accompanied only by translators. They later held a working lunch with top aides. The talks were the first time a sitting US president has met with a leader of North Korea. Trump and Kim met on the steps of the Capella hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore and shook hands in front of a display of US and North Korean flags. The handshake lasted about 12 seconds. Speaking through an interpreter Kim said: “Many people in the world will think of this as a form of fantasy from a science fiction movie.” After the signing ceremony Kim’s motorcade headed for the airport. Donald Trump is expected to give a press conference at 4pm local time. He is due to leave shortly afterwards. Reuters has the full text of the document signed by Trump and Kim. President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018. President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Convinced that the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following: 1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.-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 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. Having acknowledged that the U.S.-DPRK summit - the first in history - was an epochal event of great significance and overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulations in this joint statement fully and expeditiously. The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations led by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the U.S.-DPRK summit. President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new U.S.-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world. Korea analysts are not impressed by the vagueness and limited scope of the agreement. Robert Kelly, professor of political science at Pusan National University, says the text is “even thinner than most sceptics anticipated”. Wow. If this is it... this is depressing. This is even thinner than most skeptics anticipated. I figured Trump wd at least get some missiles or a site closure or something concrete: https://t.co/tvhLVnlXpj. This looks pretty generic. Maybe there will be some surprise in presser? https://t.co/BbzZaeCzo0 Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis is also doubtful. How does the Joint Statement from the “epochal” Singapore Summit stack up with other historic documents on denuclearization? Not so well, I fear. See for yourself; @Joshua_Pollack has compiled them all.https://t.co/4c7t3rNpGD Chad O’Carroll of the Korea Risk Group decodes the text. Some initial thoughts:1. How will Trump make "security guarantees to the DPRK" genuinely credible?2. That answer will impact any KJU roadmap to "denuclearization of the peninsula" 5. Denucelarization will be of peninsula, not just NK.6. No mention of missiles! This was issue that brought all to fore last year.7. Text on MIA remains implies U.S. mil. figures will be visiting DPRK.8. Commitment to "expeditious" implentation is good. |