Trump tells Kim a 'terrific relationship' beckons as summit begins

[webfact]

Trump tells Kim a 'terrific relationship' beckons as summit begins

By Jack Kim and Steve Holland

 

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un before their bilateral meeting at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump shook hands and smiled cautiously as they met at their historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday, in which the two men will look for ways to end a nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula.

 

Should they succeed in making a diplomatic breakthrough, it could bring lasting change to the security landscape of Northeast Asia, like the visit of former U.S. President Richard Nixon to China in 1972 led to the transformation of China.

 

"Nice to meet you Mister President," Kim said as he sat alongside Trump, against a backdrop of North Korean and U.S. flags, beaming broadly as the U.S. president gave him a thumbs up. Trump said he was sure they would have a "terrific relationship".

 

With cameras of the world's press trained on them, Trump and Kim displayed an initial atmosphere of bonhomie.

 

"I feel really great," Trump said. "It's gonna be a great discussion and I think tremendous success. I think it's gonna be really successful and I think we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt."

 

Kim replied: "Well, it was not easy to get here. The past has ... placed many obstacles in our way but we overcame all

of them and we are here today."

 

Both men looked serious as they got out of their limousines for the summit at the Capella hotel on Singapore's Sentosa, a resort island with luxury hotels, a casino, manmade beaches and a Universal Studios theme park.

 

But they were soon smiling and holding each other by the arm, before Trump guided Kim to the library where they held a meeting with only their interpreters. Trump had said on Saturday he would know within a minute of meeting Kim whether he would reach a deal.

 

After some initial exchanges lasting around half-an-hour, Trump and Kim emerged, walking side-by-side through the colonnaded hotel before re-entering the meeting room, where they were joined by their most senior officials.

 

As the two leaders met, Singapore navy vessels, and air force Apache helicopters patrolled, while fighter jets and an Gulfstream 550 Airborne Early Warning aircraft circled.

 

Financial markets were largely steady in Asia and did not show any noticeable reaction to the start of the summit. The dollar was at a three-week high and the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares was largely unchanged from Monday.

 

While Trump and Kim search each other’s eyes and words for signs of trust or deceit, the rest of the world will be watching, hoping that somehow these two unpredictable leaders can find a way to defuse one of the planet's most dangerous flashpoints.

 

OPTIMISM, CAUTION

In the hours before the summit began, Trump expressed optimism about prospects for the first-ever meeting of sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders, while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo injected a note of caution whether Kim would prove to be sincere about his willingness to denuclearise.

 

Officials of the two sides held last-minute talks to lay the groundwork for the summit of the old foes, an event almost unthinkable just months ago, when they were exchanging insults and threats that raised fears of war.

 

Staff-level meetings between the United States and North Korea were going "well and quickly," Trump said in a message on Twitter on Tuesday.

 

But he added: "In the end, that doesn't matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!"

The combatants of the 1950-53 Korean War are technically still at war, as the conflict, in which millions of people died, was concluded only with a truce.

 

On Tuesday morning, Pompeo fed the mounting anticipation of diplomatic breakthrough, saying: "We're ready for today."

 

He earlier said the event should set the framework for "the hard work that will follow", insisting that North Korea had to move toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.

 

North Korea, however, has shown little appetite for surrendering nuclear weapons it considers vital to the survival of Kim's dynastic rule.

 

Sanctions on North Korea would remain in place until that happened, Pompeo said on Monday. "If diplomacy does not move in the right direction ... those measures will increase."

 

He added: "North Korea has previously confirmed to us its willingness to denuclearise and we are eager to see if those words prove sincere."

 

The White House said later that discussions with North Korea had moved "more quickly than expected" and Trump would leave Singapore on Tuesday night after the summit, rather than Wednesday, as scheduled earlier.

 

Kim is due to leave on Tuesday afternoon, a source involved in the planning of his visit has said.

 

One of the world's most reclusive leaders, Kim visited Singapore's waterfront on Monday, smiling and waving to onlookers, adding to a more affable image that has emerged since his April summit with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

 

The Swiss-educated leader, who is believed to be 34, has not left his isolated country since taking office in 2011, apart from visiting China and the South Korean side of the border Demilitarised Zone, which separates the two Koreas.

 

'CHANGED ERA'

Just a few months ago, Kim was an international pariah accused of ordering the killing of his uncle, a half-brother and scores of officials suspected of disloyalty.

 

The summit was part of a "changed era", North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said in its first comments on the event.

 

Talks would focus on "the issue of building a permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula, the issue of realising the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern", it added.

 

Ahead of the summit, North Korea rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA's reference to denuclearisation of the peninsula has historically meant it wants the United States to remove a "nuclear umbrella" protecting South Korea and Japan.

 

Trump spoke to both South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to discuss developments ahead of the summit.

 

For Kim, the authoritarian leader of a militarised state that has shunned contact with the outside world, the ultimate goal aside from security guarantees would be freedom and support to develop an impoverished economy.

 

For Trump, achieving a momentous foreign policy success would cement his place in history.

 

Many experts on North Korea remain sceptical Kim will ever completely abandon nuclear weapons, believing his engagement aims to get the United States to ease crippling sanctions.

 

"The process could be doomed before it begins," said Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association, adding that a common understanding of denuclearisation was key to success.

 

(Reporting by Christophe Van der Perre; Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim, Dewey Sim, Aradhana Aravindan, Himani Sarkar, Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel, Miral Fahmy, Joyce Lee, Grace Lee, Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in Singapore and Christine Kim in Seoul; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Neil Fullick)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-12

[ravip]

Even with all the criticisms aimed at Trump, he has achieved something others could not.

[DM07]

1 minute ago, ravip said:

Even with all the criticisms aimed at Trump, he has achieved something others could not.

First of all: others could have- they just didn't see the point in legitimizing a madman!

Second: I will stand corrected, if things turn out otherwise, but I don't believe, this is more than an exercise to make the orange idiot look good...and it will fail badly!

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

Should they succeed in making a diplomatic breakthrough, it could bring lasting change to the security landscape of Northeast Asia, like the visit of former U.S. President Richard Nixon to China in 1972 led to the transformation of China.

This is what I hope for this meeting.

 

I'm far from being a Trumpeter, but when he does something good, he should get credit for it.

 

This meeting is a very good first step for possibility for North Korea to open up and to become a developing country, which benefits both the world, but mostly the North Korean people... who have suffered under North Korean's Juche ideology and horrible leaders for so long.

[Orton Rd]

Just now, ravip said:

Even with all the criticisms aimed at Trump, he has achieved something others could not.

True, can't imagine crazy Hillary sitting there shaking Kims hand

[impulse]

12 minutes ago, oilinki said:

This is what I hope for this meeting.

 

I'm far from being a Trumpeter, but when he does something good, he should get credit for it.

 

This meeting is a very good first step for possibility for North Korea to open up and to become a developing country, which benefits both the world, but mostly the North Korean people... who have suffered under North Korean's Juche ideology and horrible leaders for so long.

 

I'm not a fan of The Donald, either.  But even a neophyte businessman knows what polished diplomats and politicians don't seem to realize.  Deals are made between people, not between organizations and their minions.   

 

Whether anything will come of this preliminary meet and greet, I'm not smart enough to forecast.  But I can forecast that NOTHING was going to happen without it.  With 60+ years of history to back up that forecast.

 

Maybe it's time for a quick trip to Havana.  That's another diplomatic failure, harming entire generations of millions because the so called professional diplomats are so stubborn.

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by impulse

[flyingtlger]

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

Trump tells Kim a 'terrific relationship' beckons as summit begins

Yeah, just like his other failed marriages.....

[janclaes47]

17 minutes ago, DM07 said:

this is more than an exercise to make the orange idiot look good

 

So you actually agree that this is the real deal.

[Morch]

Because every "terrific" relationship starts with two people hurling personal insults and threats at each other for months. I'll settle for a working relationship, with no eyes poked.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Morch

[Berkshire]

18 minutes ago, oilinki said:

This is what I hope for this meeting.

 

I'm far from being a Trumpeter, but when he does something good, he should get credit for it.

 

This meeting is a very good first step for possibility for North Korea to open up and to become a developing country, which benefits both the world, but mostly the North Korean people... who have suffered under North Korean's Juche ideology and horrible leaders for so long.

I don't think you have any idea what N Korea is about.  Kim Jong fatboy could care less about the N Korean people, the economy, health and safety of his people, etc., etc.  All he cares about is staying in power.  Fatboy can make all kinds of promises to get sanction relief and not deliver.  We've seen this all before.  Meanwhile, resident buffoon Trump will give N Korea everything they want, declare victory, and be out-of-office by the time he realizes that Kim Jong played him like a fiddle.  But Trump's idiot base will believe everything...as usual. 

[Morch]

2 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

I don't think you have any idea what N Korea is about.  Kim Jong fatboy could care less about the N Korean people, the economy, health and safety of his people, etc., etc.  All he cares about is staying in power.  Fatboy can make all kinds of promises to get sanction relief and not deliver.  We've seen this all before.  Meanwhile, resident buffoon Trump will give N Korea everything they want, declare victory, and be out-of-office by the time he realizes that Kim Jong played him like a fiddle.  But Trump's idiot base will believe everything...as usual. 

 

Unless something drastic happens, Kim will still be around in two years, and then some. Trump may or may not last his full term in office, and may not be reelected for a second term anyway. So basically, Kim only needs to string Trump for a couple of years or so. Doubt the next president (assuming not Trump) will be up for much military adventures abroad, or be capable of swiftly re-asserting the US international stature. If Kim wants to play it this way - he can "buy" himself a few years, at least, without a whole lot of risk. Provided he keeps Trump at bay for now, and that Trump doesn't get reelected. As Trump's ability to break new electoral grounds will be dependent on having some non-controversial achievements, such as sorting things with North Korea - Kim might have a card or two to play.

[impulse]

9 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

I don't think you have any idea what N Korea is about.  Kim Jong fatboy could care less about the N Korean people, the economy, health and safety of his people, etc., etc.  All he cares about is staying in power.  Fatboy can make all kinds of promises to get sanction relief and not deliver.  We've seen this all before.  Meanwhile, resident buffoon Trump will give N Korea everything they want, declare victory, and be out-of-office by the time he realizes that Kim Jong played him like a fiddle.  But Trump's idiot base will believe everything...as usual. 

 

I wonder how many times those same sentiments described despots who eventually saw the writing on the wall and accepted sanctuary (and a huge stipend) in a cushy 3rd country. 

 

Idi Amin comes to mind right off the bat.  They don't come any crazier or more despotic than him.  The Kaiser is another example...

 

Kind of hard to start that discussion through intermediaries, though.  Especially when those intermediaries would slit your throat if they found a vulnerability.

 

 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

I don't think you have any idea what N Korea is about.  Kim Jong fatboy could care less about the N Korean people, the economy, health and safety of his people, etc., etc.  All he cares about is staying in power.  Fatboy can make all kinds of promises to get sanction relief and not deliver.  We've seen this all before.  Meanwhile, resident buffoon Trump will give N Korea everything they want, declare victory, and be out-of-office by the time he realizes that Kim Jong played him like a fiddle.  But Trump's idiot base will believe everything...as usual. 

I think I do have and idea.

 

There is not just this one meeting. There was the meeting with South Korea. Coming meeting with Russia and meetings with China. Hopefully that's a sign of opening up to the world. 

 

I'm doubtful North Korea will ever give up it's nukes. It might become similar, widely accepted fact as Israel's nuclear weapons. There however is a chance, if the sanctions against North Korea are lifted, that it will help the wellbeing of the common North Koreans. 

 

We don't know that yet, however it's good that the dialogue of these two currently rogue countries are in this level, rather than talking about nuclear war, like those did earlier. 

[ezzra]

In Shakespeare's Hamlet play the saying 'There is a method to him madness' is still hold true hundreds of years later, sometime salvation will come with the help of what everyone perceived to be the village idiot and where angels fear to tread....

Edited June 12, 2018 by ezzra

[Berkshire]

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I wonder how many times those same sentiments described despots who eventually saw the writing on the wall and accepted sanctuary (and a huge stipend) in a cushy 3rd country. 

 

Idi Amin comes to mind right off the bat.  They don't come any crazier or more despotic than him.  The Kaiser is another example...

 

Kind of hard to start that discussion through intermediaries, though.  Especially when those intermediaries would slit your throat if they found a vulnerability.

 

 

Hmmmm, and Assad in Syria, Gaddafi, Hussein, Castro, Chavez....dictators won't give up power unless there's no other option.  Do you think Trump will bring up human rights with Kim Jong?  From what I can see, all Trump is pushing for is denuclearization...which will never happen (by our definition). 

[Morch]

14 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I wonder how many times those same sentiments described despots who eventually saw the writing on the wall and accepted sanctuary (and a huge stipend) in a cushy 3rd country. 

 

Idi Amin comes to mind right off the bat.  They don't come any crazier or more despotic than him.  The Kaiser is another example...

 

Kind of hard to start that discussion through intermediaries, though.  Especially when those intermediaries would slit your throat if they found a vulnerability.

 

 

 

Idi Amin was forcefully ejected, fled to Saudi Arabia where he died in exile. Don't know there was much "seeing the writing on the wall" involved.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Morch

[impulse]

1 minute ago, Morch said:

Idi Amin was forcefully ejected, fled to Saudi Arabia where he died in exile. Don't know there was much "seeing the writing on the wall" involved.

 

So, ya figured he fled to Saudi without seeing the pitchforks, and without having a deal in place with the Saudis?

 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, ravip said:

Even with all the criticisms aimed at Trump, he has achieved something others could not.

 

Did trump actually generate this meeting or was it un who made the initial noises about a meeting?

[scorecard]

21 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I wonder how many times those same sentiments described despots who eventually saw the writing on the wall and accepted sanctuary (and a huge stipend) in a cushy 3rd country. 

 

Idi Amin comes to mind right off the bat.  They don't come any crazier or more despotic than him.  The Kaiser is another example...

 

Kind of hard to start that discussion through intermediaries, though.  Especially when those intermediaries would slit your throat if they found a vulnerability.

 

 

 

Meaning gag bolton and put him on a slow trip to antarctica.

 

 

[CharlesSwann]

Trump says what he thinks, so is a good person to be friends with. Presumably Kim thought it was an opportunity for genuine friendship - especially as his nuclear programme has apparently folded.

As with Mao-Nixon, I can see some easing of tension, though no substantive change.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, DM07 said:

First of all: others could have- they just didn't see the point in legitimizing a madman!

Second: I will stand corrected, if things turn out otherwise, but I don't believe, this is more than an exercise to make the orange idiot look good...and it will fail badly!

"They didn't see the point in legitimizing a madman" ; fair enough.  But my question is, if they thought he was a madman, why did they dither while he developed nuclear weapons and missiles to launch them? That didn't happen on Trump's watch.

[Morch]

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

So, ya figured he fled to Saudi without seeing the pitchforks, and without having a deal in place with the Saudis?

 

 

I figure that fleeing at the very last minute is not quite what "seeing the writing on the wall" is about. It happened following popular discontent and a war with a neighboring country. Both of these conditions missing your comparison to Kim's situation. And slight correction of my previous post - he actually fled to Libya, only moved to Saudi Arabia later on.

 

"Seeing the writing on the wall" would, IMO, imply letting go of power before things go south.

[impulse]

6 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Did trump actually generate this meeting or was it un who made the initial noises about a meeting?

 

Yep.  It was the UN.  Starting back in 1953 (or so).  Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush Jr, and Obama all had the opportunity and all resisted that call.  

 

 

[Morch]

5 minutes ago, hyku1147 said:

Argumentum ad-hominem is the tool of the poorly educated.

 

Ideal culture is being dismantled by real culture:

 

"The economy is booming, minority unemployment is at record lows, the summit is of historic importance."

 

" Trump is fat, Trump is bellicose, Trump is racist."

 

 

 

Does that work also with regard to Trump's many many instances of employing ad-hominem arguments? Or his supporters doing so?

[CGW]

Fat Boy does a great job of justifying developing a nuclear arsenal 

Look what happened to those countries that didn't have a bargaining chip ? 

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

I figure that fleeing at the very last minute is not quite what "seeing the writing on the wall" is about. It happened following popular discontent and a war with a neighboring country. Both of these conditions missing your comparison to Kim's situation. And slight correction of my previous post - he actually fled to Libya, only moved to Saudi Arabia later on.

 

"Seeing the writing on the wall" would, IMO, imply letting go of power before things go south.

  

We're not really that far apart, though I would contend that anyone who doesn't scorch the earth in a suicidal last stand has seen the writing on the wall.  Or, more accurately, been offered a better alternative than taking his country down with his regime.  Example- Hitler.

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by impulse

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, CGW said:

Fat Boy does a great job of justifying developing a nuclear arsenal 

Look what happened to those countries that didn't have a bargaining chip 

 

He has the advantage of being within old fashioned artillery range of Seoul, and could kill millions if they took out his nukes.

[sanemax]

20 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Did trump actually generate this meeting or was it un who made the initial noises about a meeting?

It really doesnt matter .

[impulse]

27 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Hmmmm, and Assad in Syria, Gaddafi, Hussein, Castro, Chavez....dictators won't give up power unless there's no other option.  Do you think Trump will bring up human rights with Kim Jong?  From what I can see, all Trump is pushing for is denuclearization...which will never happen (by our definition). 

 

Hard to say, but by my count in the post above, 12 presidents have had 60+ years to try one tack.  Without success.

 

Maybe it's time to try a different one?

 

[Morch]

2 minutes ago, hyku1147 said:

What do you think about the summit?

" Ad hominem (Latin for "to the man" or "to the person"), short for argumentum ad hominem, is a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the ... "

 

I think that those living in glass houses should think twice before bringing up complaints about ad-hominem arguments. Wasn't so long ago Trump was employing the very same toward Kim, and vice versa. Don't recall similar angst over this from certain quarters.

 

The summit? More of a feelgood photo-op so far. Whether anything substantial will come out of it is debatable.