I’m currently managing director of Content and Business Planning at The Korea Times. Before I took the current position in early 2024, I served as managing editor in charge of both paper and online for over three and a half years. In 2015-2018, I worked as Singapore correspondent covering ASEAN nations.
Kim, Trump arrive in Singapore for summit
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U.S. President Donald Trump waves upon his arrival in Singapore as he is met by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan after Air Force One arrived at Paya Lebar Air Base, Sunday. ahead of a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, June 12. / AFP-Yonhap
By Kim Jae-kyoung
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is greeted by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan upon arrival at Changyi Airport, Sunday, for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump for June 12. / Captured image from Singaporean foreign minister's Facebook
Leaders ready for historic summit on denuclearization
By Kim Jae-kyoung, Yi Whan-woo
SINGAPORE -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Singapore, Sunday, for their historic summit in the city-state scheduled for June 12.
Kim arrived at Changi Airport at 3:36 p.m. (KST), embarking on his first overseas trip other than China after taking power in December 2011.
Trump landed in Singapore about six hours later after leaving the G7 summit in Canada early.
Kim flew in on an Air China Boeing 747, a charted flight in a plane normally used by top Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping.
Two North Korean planes -- Kim's aging private Chammate-1 and an Air Koryo IL-76 freighter -- also flew to Singapore from Pyongyang carrying his staff and cargo.
Kim was met by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, before traveling to the downtown St. Regis Hotel in a bulletproof Mercedez Benz limousine brought from the North.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, left, is welcomed by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to The Istana, the official residence of the prime minister, following Kim's arrival in Singapore on June 10, 2018. / AFP
He later met Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Istana, the Singapore president's official residence. They discussed the June 12 summit and economic cooperation.
Kim expressed thanks to Lee over Singapore's “provision of convenience” to the North Korean delegation.
He also said that if his meeting with Trump was successful, Singapore's efforts would be historically recognized, according to footage uploaded on the prime minister's Facebook page.
Kim was accompanied by his most trusted aides, including his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, North Korean Workers' Party (WP) General Political Bureau Director Kim Su-gil, WP International Affairs Vice Chairman Ri Su-yong, and Kim Yong-chol.
Kim Yong-chol is a former intelligence chief and a sitting vice chairman of the Workers' Party. He led the preparation for the June 12 summit jointly with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Details about Kim's itinerary are not known, but he will likely spend his time at the hotel focusing on last-minute preparations for the summit with top officials.
Trump left the G7 summit in Canada earlier than scheduled and arrived at Paya Lebar Air Base at 9:21 p.m. (KST) on Air Force One. He headed to The Shangri-La hotel afterwards.
He is scheduled to meet the Singaporean prime minister, Monday.
Trump cast his meeting with Kim as a “one-time shot” for the North Korean leader to abandon his nuclear program and enter the community of nations.
“It's unknown territory in the truest sense, but I really feel confident,” he told reporters before departing for Singapore. “I feel that Kim Jong-un wants to do something great for his people and he has that opportunity and he won't have that opportunity again.
“It's a one-time shot and I think it's going to work out very well.”
The Trump-Kim meeting will be the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
Some U.S. officials said the only thing certain ahead of the talks was their unpredictability.
Citing those officials, Axios, a U.S. news website, reported a successful summit in Singapore could lead to the opening of an American embassy in Pyongyang.
It said the officials discussed the possibility of normalized relations between the two countries during meetings with their North Korean counterparts in Singapore, New York, and the Demilitarized Zone.
It also said Trump has informed his aides he was willing to leave official relations with Pyongyang on the table as long as Kim takes tangible steps toward denuclearization during and after their face-to-face meeting.
“It's definitely been discussed. His view is: 'We can discuss that. It's on the table. Let's see,'” an official told Axios, adding that “almost nothing” is off the table.
With the two leaders arriving, security was greatly tightened Sunday especially in the areas of St Regis and The Shangri-La hotels on Orange Grove Road.
The area surrounding the hotels has been designated as an enhanced special event zone from Sunday to Thursday together with the Capella Hotel on Sentosa, the island where the summit will be held.
“Trump was scheduled to check in Sunday evening, so security is visibly more pronounced in and around our hotel,” said a Shangri-La official said.
“We are doing business as usual but all the cars and people entering our hotel will have to go through strict security checks until Thursday unless you stay here.”
Police have set up bag scanners and metal detectors at the entrances to the hotels, while security barriers have been installed along surrounding roads. Some junctions around them have been blocked.
Hordes of journalists from around the world have staked out airports, hotels and the surrounding areas throughout the day to catch a glimpse of the two leaders and officials involved in summit preparations.
The international media center opened Sunday and will remain open round the clock until June 13. More than 3,000 journalists are expected to cover the summit.