US President Donald Trump had floated the idea of holding the historic talks in the deeply symbolic setting of the demilitarised zone
along the border between North and South Korea, but the two sides have
instead chosen city state Singapore as a third-party host, unnamed
sources told both the Chosun newspaper and Yonhap news agency.To get
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This would push back the proposed date of the summit from late May to the third week of June, partially to wait until after the G7 summit – a
bloc that includes both Japan and the US – in Canada on June 8 and 9,
according to the reports. But given Trump’s unpredictability, there is
still the possibility that he could change course and decide he would
prefer to meet in Panmunjom village in the DMZ.
Trump himself confirmed on Friday that the time and place for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been settled, without
providing further details. “We now have a date and we have a location,”
he told reporters. “We’ll be announcing it soon.” The summit comes after
Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in signed the Panmunjom
Declaration on April 27, agreeing to work towards denuclearisation of
the Korean peninsula and to usher in a “new era of peace”.
Meanwhile China, North Korea’s ally and neighbour, has sought to avoid being sidelined in negotiations on the Korean peninsula. On
Saturday, Politburo member and director of the Foreign Affairs
Commission Yang Jiechi spoke about the ongoing developments with US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. During the phone call, Yang reasserted
Beijing’s position on the importance of denuclearisation of the
peninsula and regional peace and stability, and the need to use dialogue
to resolve issues, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. “We hope
that all parties will seriously consider the ‘dual-track’ approach China
proposed, and work hard to maintain the positive momentum to resolve
issues on the peninsula,” ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a media
briefing.
He was referring to Beijing’s proposal for North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons programme in exchange for the US suspending its military
drills in South Korea.Besides Singapore, analysts have speculated that
the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting could also be Mongolia, which Kim
could travel to by bulletproof train. Trump has also warned previously
that he could call off the meeting altogether if he does not feel it
would be “fruitful”.
