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DPRK-US-MEETING
DPRK, U.S. leaders hold historic meeting in Singapore
SINGAPORE, June 12, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Top leader of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump
gathered here Tuesday for a historic meeting widely expected to open a new
chapter in their countries’ relations.
They shook hands and held a 40-minute one-on-one meeting at the Capella
Hotel on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa, before proceeding to an
expanded meeting and a working lunch with their aides.
The larger meeting was attended by three major security and diplomatic
aides to Kim and Trump, respectively.
On the DPRK side, Kim Yong Chol and Ri Su Yong, two vice chairmen of the
Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, and Foreign Minister Ri Yong
Ho were present.
Accompanying Trump were White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, National
Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The expanded meeting came after the one-on-one session between Kim and
Trump, which the U.S. leader described as “very, very good.” During the face-
to-face talks, Trump said he had an “excellent relationship” with Kim.
Kim and Trump started their first summit with a historic handshake that
lasted for a few seconds before a row of national flags of the two countries.
“This is just a new beginning,” said Trump while shaking hands with Kim.
Kim, dressed in a dark suit, and Trump, sporting a red tie, talked at a
corner in the hotel corridor for a few minutes, before they walked along the
passage into the meeting room and sat down in front of journalists.
“The way coming here was not easy,” said Kim.
The DPRK leader said he and Trump came here after overcoming “all the
obstacles” such as old prejudice and practices that had stood in their way
forward.
Predicting a tremendous success of the summit with the DPRK leader, Trump
said that it was “an honor” to meet face-to-face with Kim and that he would
have “a terrific relationship” with the DPRK leader.
After shaking hands again with Kim in front of cameras, Trump gave a
thumbs-up before starting the first meeting between an incumbent U.S.
president and a DPRK leader.
Since taking over his country’s leadership in late 2011, Kim had made only
three known trips to foreign countries before the Singapore visit. He
traveled to China twice and to the South Korean side of the truce village of
Panmunjom.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1058 hrs