Triumphant summit

No doubt, the much-anticipated June 12 summit between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could turn out to be a big win for the US president, especially if the meeting will result in an agreement that will be satisfactory to all parties regarding the denuclearization of North Korea.  

One thing for sure, Singapore was chosen for this unprecedented “summit of summits” because it is a neutral location, unlike Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing, Russia or even the Demilitarized Zone in Panmunjom which were all suggested as possible venues. The fact is, Singapore had been quietly working through   diplomatic channels both here in Washington, D.C. and in Pyongyang to host the historic event.

Singapore has good diplomatic relations with both North Korea and the United States, and its proximity will allow Kim to travel on a Russian-made private aircraft without having to stop for refueling. A major consideration for security reasons was to lessen the stopover the North Korean leader had to make.

Singapore has a good track record when it comes to hosting high-level meetings and conferences, like the 2015 meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou who was Taiwan’s president at the time. As Singapore is the host country for this year’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), holding the Kim-Trump summit there is symbolic since the progressive city state is calling for increased cooperation among member-nations to enhance peace and security in the region.

A lot of security preparations are already underway for the meeting which will be nothing less than historic, marking the first time that a sitting US president would meet a North Korean leader. For over two decades, attempts have been made to set up a meeting between the leaders of the US and North Korea, with President Bill Clinton coming so close to accepting the invitation issued by Kim Jong Il in 2000. 

When Trump accepted the invitation for a meeting last March, it signaled a possible thaw in relations between the two nations whose leaders have been furiously engaged in an escalating word war, exchanging insults and threats of nuclear annihilation that sent anxiety levels soaring all over the globe. In the words of South Korean president Moon Jae-in, the meeting would be “almost miraculous.”

While Trump and Kim will be taking centerstage in June, many nations, including China and South Korea, had major contributions in making the meeting possible. Last March, Kim met with Chinese president Xi Jinping before the invitation for a meeting with Trump was issued. Last Tuesday, Kim and Xi met once again – clearly indicating the significant part that China is going to play in the forthcoming meeting between the US and North Korean leaders.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in has also been working hard to defuse the tension in the Korean Peninsula – and these efforts seem to be paying off judging from the equally historic meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas last month, with Kim Jong-un stepping across the border in Panmunjom to meet Moon. People were riveted by the images of the two leaders smiling, embracing, holding hands while they walked, and spending private time in the Demilitarized Zone. 

Kim’s remarks were hopeful: “A new history starts now: from the starting point of the age of peace and history.”

And while the April summit between the two Koreas will not immediately erase all the tension that has been brewing for many years, it’s a sea change from the previous situation especially since direct communication lines have been opened. As President Xi Jinping remarked following his Tuesday meeting with Kim Jong-un, “positive progress” is being made.

Admittedly, the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un is not going to instantly resolve all aspects of the denuclearization issue involving North Korea, but at the very least, the much-anticipated meeting would be a step toward the right direction. As President Trump’s upbeat tweet says, both leaders will try to “make it a very special moment for World Peace!” 

Supporters are praising the American president, saying he is decisive in making great strides as far as the relationship with Pyongyang is concerned. A case in point: the recent release of the three Americans detained in North Korea. 

Kim Dong-chul was detained in 2015 while Tony Kim (Kim Sang-duk) and Kim Hak-song were arrested in 2017, but were freed last Wednesday after the meeting between US State Secretary Mike Pompeo and Kim. It was a welcome development which the White House lauded as a “gesture of goodwill” that set a positive tone for the upcoming summit, convincing many that Kim is ready to improve relations with the US.

That is not to say that the meeting will be all smiles and hugs that people will most likely see from the photos that will be released as part of the historic occasion’s documentation. If anything, the meeting will be intense to make it appear both sides are talking from a position of strength. A White House official close to the US President told us “Trump’s deal-making skills will come into play with a well-prepared game plan – but it won’t be surprising if he will deviate from the ‘script’ and employ ‘shock and awe’ tactics.” He won’t pull punches if such a response is warranted by the situation, but he also cleverly knows how to disarm an opponent using his charm offensive. 

One thing is certain, it will be a triumphant moment for Trump if he returns to Washington with a “signed document of denuclearization” from Kim Jong-un.

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