English Articles
Trump-Kim: Everything you need to know
Sharon Marris and David Mercer, news reporters
Monday 11th of June 2018

Sharon Marris and David Mercer, news reporters
With Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's summit looming, Sky News looks at the details of the historic meeting and what each leader hopes to achieve from their first face-to-face talks.

 


The basics


The leaders of the United States and North Korea have arrived in Singapore, where they are scheduled to meet on Tuesday at 9am local time (2am BST).

They will stage their summit at the five-star Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, which is fully booked on 11 and 12 June.



They are expected to enter their meeting room at the same time but through different doors - an important requirement because it avoids the appearance that one leader has arrived first and is waiting for the other.

Meanwhile, the 3,000 journalists expected to cover the summit are working from the F1 Pit Building in downtown Singapore.

Security

A special zone has been declared for all of Sentosa and more than half a mile off its southwestern shore.

People and vehicles entering the area will be subject to bag and body searches and may be asked to show identification details.

Drones, flags, banners, signal flares and flammable materials are banned.

Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times reported that the government had given four vehicles exemptions from traffic rules, including speed restrictions, seatbelt rules and use of lights. The vehicles were all black 7-series BMWs.

 


The politics - what does Donald Trump want?



A win for the US president would involve the North Korean leader agreeing to shut down his nuclear weapons programme.

A headline-grabbing made-for-TV moment on the world stage would also be welcomed by the former reality TV star.

There are concerns that he may leave out human rights issues (North Koreans live under one of the world's most oppressive regimes) and regional security concerns (such as what is best for South Korea and Japan) but he has said more than one meeting may be needed to achieve what he wants.

What does Kim want?

Kim will not be keen to talk about human rights abuses - he is believed to see this as advocating regime change.

But he won't be able to avoid it entirely - he has been on a US treasury department blacklist for human rights abuses for two years and is likely to want to change this.

Sky News' Asia correspondent Tom Cheshire says Kim has already made clear what he wants from the negotiations - economic development.

"Kim's nuclear arsenal might appear to give him a position of strength but the reality is more precarious," Cheshire says.

"He must deliver economic growth to preserve his rule. But opening up will also bring its own pressures on the regime.

"And, either way, there's still the chance that Singapore won't even give him the opportunity to do so."

:: Donald Trump v Kim Jong Un: How their body language compares
:: Who said what? Donald and Kim's war of words

 


How do the two leaders measure up?

 


They are opposites in many ways but there are some similarities.

Mr Trump was the oldest US president in the country's history when he took the role and celebrates his 72nd birthday two days after the meeting.

Kim, on the other hand, is only in his mid-30s and has already been in power for more than six years.

While Mr Trump is known to have a short attention span for briefings, Kim is reportedly well prepared for such meetings.

But both know what it is to rely on close family - for Kim it is his sister, Kim Yo Jong, and for Mr Trump it is two of his children in particular - Donald Jr and Ivanka.

The two leaders are both known for incendiary comments but Mr Kim has shown a recent leaning towards diplomacy, meeting this year with leaders from China, South Korea and officials from the US.

:: North v South: A tale of two Koreas

 


Who is paying for the summit?


This summit is at an exclusive venue in one of Asia's priciest destinations and, judging by past form, North Korea will pay as little as possible.

The Washington Post has quoted two anonymous US officials as saying the Trump administration was "seeking a discreet way" to help pay Kim's hotel bill, but this was denied by US state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

Mr Trump is believed to be staying at the Shangri-la hotel, while Kim has checked into the St Regis Singapore. Both hotels are five-star resorts.

As is tradition, host country Singapore will pick up the cost of security and logistics.

North Korea has hosted a number of lavish parades and party congresses in recent years, proving Mr Kim is not poor, even if many of his country's citizens are.

In recent years, North Korea's southern neighbour has found itself footing the bill.

A few examples:

:: Seoul reportedly spent about $5m (£3.74m) on President Moon Jae-in's first summit with Kim in April

:: Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung's administration secretly paid $500m (£373m) to get Kim Jong Un's father to agree to the first North-South Korea summit in 2000

:: Even the much celebrated involvement of North Korea in February's Olympics cost South Korea $2.5m (£1.9m)


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