The historic summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un is back on. The stage is set in Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island where the two world leaders are expected to meet on June 12. But Trump is already planning ahead and wants to invite Kim to Washington in the near future – only if the Singapore summit goes according to his expectations.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un are expected to meet face-to-face at a summit in Singapore next week
Kim Could Come to Washington
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that if the nuclear talks with Kim Jong Un expected to be held in Singapore next week go well, he will invite the North Korean Supreme Leader to Washington soon after. Political analysts are saying that communist dictator’s arrival in Washington after decades of minimal contact will be a remarkable step towards world peace, as well as fulfilling the West’s agenda to denuclearize the North.
Next week’s summit will create political history as the first face-to-face meeting between a North Korean Leader and a sitting U.S. President. The world is currently looking towards Trump as a last persuasive force to talk Pyongyang out of its missile programs, which could reduce the risk of an armed conflict in the Korean Peninsula as well as ease the international community’s concern about a nuclear war between U.S. and the North.
Next week’s summit will create political history as the first face-to-face meeting between a North Korean Leader and a sitting U.S. President
Normalizing Relations
Trump, who has already backed out of the summit once, says that he prepared to walk out once again if the Northern regime does not cooperate or show willingness to ‘normalize relations’ with the West. After cancelling the summit in a letter to Kim, Trump decided to reschedule the historic meeting last week following a White House visit from an important North Korean Official.
While giving a joint statement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the U.S. President even said that if talks go well, Kim could become a frequent visitor at the White House. But Trump has made it clear many times in the past that if North Korea doesn’t commit to a path of denuclearization, there is no point of further negotiations with the isolated regime.
Abe said that after decades of political and nuclear tension between Japan and North Korea, he, too, looks forward to normalizing relations between the two countries and reestablishing links with Pyongyang.
Although the summit does have potential for reducing tension in East Asia, North Korea’s track record of unreliability in any international negotiations makes it hard to trust the country’s intentions this time around.
Kim’s Popularity and Trump’s Unpreparedness
Trump’s lack of preparedness for the summit is also raising concerns in the country. The President stroked those fears recently when he boasted that he doesn’t ‘need to prepare’ for the meeting. He also announced on Thursday that he will tone down the hostility in his language when talking about North Korea and abandon the use of ‘maximum pressure’ – at least for the time being.
Kim Jong Un is suddenly the most popular kid on the diplomatic block with several international leaders impatient to meet him. The North Korean Leader has already met with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and is expected to travel to Moscow in the future to meet President Putin. Kim has also had groundbreaking meetings with the South Korean President, as well as the Chinese President, whom he has met twice already.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested Trump to bring up the case of innocent Japanese civilians being held in North Korea during the summit next week
Japan’s Request
Abe, who is seemingly concerned about Trump’s leniency towards the North, says that the U.S. should not lift the sanctions until Kim assures the international community that he will abandon his nuclear program in favor of more peaceful international relations.
Trump said that he does not plan to lift the economic sanctions on North Korea. In fact, the President has a new list of additional sanctions as part of his ‘maximum pressure’ plan which will be enforced in case the summit does not meet his expectations.
While talking to the U.S. President, Abe requested that he convinces Kim Jong Un to release the innocent Japanese civilians who are being held captive in North Korea. Trump assured the Japanese Prime Minister that he fully understands the gravity of the situation and will do everything in his power to rescue the hostages.
Mr. Abe said that several Japanese citizens were abducted by North Koreans in 1980s and held hostage to teach their spies the Japanese customs and language. Although the country admitted to kidnapping only 13 citizens, Japan says that the actual number of hostages is much higher.
