Trump, Moon discuss Singapore summit agenda

Jun 12, 2018, 08:25 am

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U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un will start their summit with a one-on-one session, AP reported Monday. The two leaders will meet in Sentosa's The Capella Hotel on Tuesday at 9 a.m../ Source: The Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore.

By AsiaToday reporter Choi Tae-beom

A day ahead of the Singapore summit, the United States and North Korea continued to hold working-level talks for last-minute deals while focusing on making a draft agreement. It is noteworthy whether the two leaders will announce so-called "Singapore Declaration".

The specific details remain unclear as to what "big deal" will be made regarding the two essential agenda - the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) and the complete, verifiable and irreversible guarantee of security (CVIG). In the meantime, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump had a phone conversation on Monday for 40 minutes to discuss the agenda of the historic U.S.-North Korea summit.

Trump explained to Moon what has been discussed between Washington and Pyongyang ahead of the summit, and the two leaders discussed about concrete measures to ensure the success of the U.S.-North Korea summit talks, according to Moon's spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.

Trump also told Moon that he would sent U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to South Korea immediately after the summit to brief Seoul on the result of the summit in Singapore in order to discuss ways for the U.S. and South Korea to cooperate in implementing the outcome of the summit.

In response, Moon said, "If the U.S.-North Korea summit is successful, it would be a great gift for not only people around the world but also President Trump's birthday on June 14."

Moon also urged the two leaders to make "big, bold decisions" and hoped to hold a successful meeting. "I hope the two leaders will make big, bold decisions that generously answer to each others' demands so that wish for a new age upon the Korean Peninsula from those around the world comes true."

Moon credited Trump for his "bold decision" for peace on the Korean Peninsula. He also cited Kim for taking "bold, proactive action" such as destroying North Korea's key nuclear test site.

Moon said that he expects the Trump-Kim summit to "become a historic milestone on the path toward peace away from war."

Trump and Kim focused on wrapping up their negotiation strategies. They also checked several times the working-level negotiations on drafting an agreement of the summit.

In a meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Trump teased his upcoming meeting with Kim, saying, "We've got a very interesting meeting in particular tomorrow. I think things could work out very nicely."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said, "The President and the entire U.S. team are looking forward to tomorrow's summit. We have had substantive and detailed meetings to date, including this morning with the North Koreans."

North Korean media outlets reported Kim's Singapore visit with multiple pictures of the leader, indirectly expressing Kim's expectations for the summit. It's rather unusual that they reported Kim's schedule ahead of the summit.

A government official said that working-level negotiations proceeded to the final stage and that "the two leaders' bold decisions would put an end to the deal." He predicted that a lot of things would be decided during the talks between the leaders.

#Donald Trump #Moon Jae-in #Singapore summit #agenda #Kim Jong-un