Summit For History Books
Donald Trump entered from the right. Kim Jong Un entered from the left. They met, while dozens of cameras were recording their every detailed move, as the world watched, and waited for the historic handshake, and the meetings that followed.
Thirteen seconds. The time of the contact, the moments it took for history to be made, the intense backdrop of the two nation’s flags, a shoulder tap, even a thumbs up — were all discussed in great detail in tweets and commentary in South Korea, the United States and throughout the entire world.
South Koreans looked on in a train station; the South Korean president smiled; one official compared the summit, favorably, to the birth of his daughter. On the converse, critics said the welcome Trump was giving Kim in Singapore would legitimize one of the world’s worst human rights offenders, and be feared to accomplish nothing, rewarding the ambitions of a despotic, murderous dictator.
Shortly afterward, at the top of a private one-on-one session that lasted roughly 45 minutes, the pair sat close to each other and exchanged additional pleasantries as conveyed by translators.
“I feel really great. Going to have a great reception,” Trump said. “And tremendous success, going to be tremendously successful. And it is my honor and we will have a terrific relationship ahead.”
“It was not easy to get here,“ Kim said, adding that “old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward, but we overcame all of them and are here today.“
“That’s true,” Trump responded.
Later, as other aides joined them, Trump said the two would “solve“ their nuclear dispute. “Working together, we will get it taken care of,“ Trump said. Kim replied: “There will be challenges ahead, but we will work with Trump.“
The main topic of the summit is the end of the North Korean nuclear program that has advanced at least to the brink of being able to strike the continental U.S., a threat that President Trump says he will not tolerate.
After the working lunch, Trump and Kim made brief comments to the news media in Singapore. They stated that they would be signing something together, but no further statements were made on what they would be signing.
The signing of “Comprehensive” Agreement
To end their historic summit, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a “comprehensive” document marking the start of “major change.” Although details of the agreement have not yet been released, Jong-un reportedly pledged to “work towards” removing all nuclear arms from the Korean peninsula.
Later, the details of the agreement were released.
1. The United States and the DPRK committed to establishing 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 April 27, 2018, Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to working towards the 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.
