US President Donald Trump said he would be “absolutely” willing to invite North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un to the White House after a historic meeting in Singapore.
Asked by reporters if he would invite him to Washington, Trump said: “Absolutely, I would.”
Trump’s comments come after weeks in the making after decades of war, antagonism and venom, the first encounter between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump was a crucial moment.
Within the first minute of their meeting in Singapore, the US president had proclaimed, he would know whether a deal over the North’s nuclear arsenal was possible.
The drive to the venue took both men through the tourist enclave of Sentosa island and past the towers of Shrek’s castle at a Universal Studios theme park.
But they emerged from their limousines grim and unsmiling, and the first few moments of their meeting appeared uneasy.
Although Kim agreed to the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”, a stock phrase favoured by Pyongyang that fell short of long-standing US demands for North Korea to give up its atomic arsenal.
After a day filled with smiles and compliments in the sumptuous setting of a luxury Singapore hotel that was watched around the world, the US “committed to provide security guarantees” to North Korea.
Ahead of the meeting, critics expressed concerns that it risked being more about media headlines than substantive progress.
Asked about denuclearisation — the crux of the summit — Trump said, “we’re starting that process”, adding that it would begin “very, very quickly.”
But the text of the two men’s agreement made no mention of previous US demands for “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” — jargon for scrapping weapons and committing to inspections.
Melissa Hanham of the US-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies said on Twitter that North Korea had “already promised to do this many times,” adding the two sides “still don’t agree on what ‘denuclearisation’ means.”
In neutral Singapore, the leaders, who had previously hurled insults like “mentally deranged” and “little rocket man”, showered compliments on each other.
Trump said he had formed a “special bond” with Kim, whose regime has been accused of multiple human rights abuse and who is suspected of ordering the assassination of his brother at a Malaysian airport last year.
“We’ll meet again,” Trump said after a signing ceremony, standing with Kim on the verandah where they first met. “We will meet many times.”
Trump said he “absolutely” would be willing to invite Kim to the White House.
AFP
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