Trump-Kim Singapore summit: All the latest updates

Trump-Kim Singapore summit: All the latest updates

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are meeting in Singapore.

Here are all the latest developments:

Trump, Kim sign 'comprehensive', 'historic' document

• US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have signed a document at a ceremony.

• Trump said the document was "very important" and "pretty comprehensive". He added both Kim and he were "honoured" to sign.

• Kim called the joint statement "historic". "The world will see an important change," he said. 

• Trump said he and Kim had developed "a very special bond". 

• After signing the agreement, Trump addressing reporters said he learned that Kim is a "talented man" who "loves his country very much". "We'll meet many times," he said. 

• After shaking hands the leaders parted ways. Kim is now expected to fly back to North Korea. 

• Details on the statement are expected to be released shortly. Trump will hold a press conference within a few hours.

Reporters gather in ceremonial room

• Reporters have gathered in a room which is expected to be the scene of a signing ceremony with Trump and Kim.

• Two pens have been laid out on the large desk.

• North Korean and US reporters were reportedly jostling for a position in the room. 

Trump: meeting with Kim 'better than anybody could have expected'

• Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have emerged from their working lunch.

• Addressing reporters, Trump said the meeting with Kim went "better than anybody could have expected".

• Trump said he and Kim were on their way to sign something. Asked what the leaders would sign, the US President said "we'll be announcing that in a couple of minutes". 

• Trump gave Kim a quick glimpse of his presidential limousine dubbed "The Beast", a nine-tonne bulletproof and bombproof Cadillac. 

Trump and Kim begin working lunch

• US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have ended their expanded bilateral meeting and started their working lunch.

• US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Kim's sister Kim Yo-jong are among those who have joined the leaders for the meal.

• The participants can choose between beef short rib confit, sweet and sour crispy pork and soy braised cod fish for a main course. Here's the full menu: 

 

Japan and South Korea 'divided' on approach to North Korea: analyst

• Japan and South Korea are divided about how to deal with North Korea, Graham Ong-Webb, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore has told Al Jazeera's James Bays. 

• "The two countries which are integral to the final resolution" fall on "different sides of Trump's policy position, which is a two-front approach to North Korea: maximum pressure and engagement", Ong-Webb said.

• Japan believes maximum pressure should be kept on North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "feels that we should only release the valve on sanctions when the North Koreans have fully delivered on these potential promises that they have to make about denuclearisation".

• He added that South Korea is "taking a softer tone to things. They feel that engagement is more important and if that means having to release the valve a little bit to incentivise and reward the North Koreans along the way then that should be the way forward". 

Dennis Rodman: I got a call saying Trump was proud of me

• Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has said he received a call from the White House ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with Kim Jong-un.

• Rodman told CNN in an interview from Singapore on Tuesday that a White House staffer called the former "Celebrity Apprentice" contestant to tell him the president was proud of him.

• Reflecting on criticism to his past visits to North Korea, Rodman broke down in tears, saying he received death threats over his meetings with Kim.

• Rodman described Kim as a "big kid" who wants to see the world and he expressed hope that the two leaders will make progress.

Trump and Kim meet after months of threats and insults

• Trump and Kim are currently in talks with key advisers.

• If you're just catching up, read our news report from Singapore by Tom Benner.

Moon expresses hope after 'sleepless night'

• South Korean President Moon Jae-in has expressed hope for a "successful summit", South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. 

• Speaking on Tuesday, Moon admitted he had "spent a sleepless night" and that he hoped the talks between Trump and Kim "will open a new era of complete denuclearisation, peace and a new relationship between South Korea, North Korea and the United States". 

• Yonhap reported Moon and other cabinet members delayed their weekly meeting to watch the opening of the Trump-Kim summit. 

Trump and Kim end private meeting

• Trump and Kim have emerged from their one-on-one meeting, which lasted about 48 minutes. 

• Trump said the meeting was "very, very good" and that he and Kim have an "excellent relationship".

• The two leaders then went into an expanded bilateral meeting, where they are joined by key advisers. 

• After sitting down in the meeting room, Kim said we can expect "the dawn of peace" now that the "unhelpful past" has been left behind.

• Trump said, "we will be successful". 

• On the US side, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Chief of Staff John Kelly joined. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and Kim Yong-chol, who has been described as Kim's right hand man, were among those who joined Kim at the table. 

• The meeting is expected to last until 11:30 local time (03:30 GMT) after which the leaders will have a working lunch. 

Trump and Kim shake hands

• Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have shaken hands, marking the opening of a historic summit.

• Posing for photos, Trump said "we will have a terrific relationship no doubt".

• Kim said "the way to come here was not easy. The old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward, but we overcame all of them and we are here today."

• Trump and Kim will now enter a one-on-one meeting where they are joined only by translators.

Both leaders arrive at Singapore summit site 

• Kim and Trump have reached the venue of their historic summit.

• The convoys of the two leaders drove through the streets of Singapore to reach Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa island.

• Trump arrived first in advance of the 9am local time (01:00 GMT) meeting. Kim's black armoured limousine pulled in a short time later at the luxury resort for the world's first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
  

Kim-Trump meeting schedule

• After an initial greeting at the 9am local time (01:00 GMT) start of the summit, Trump and Kim will go into a one-on-one meeting with translators only, according to a White House statement.

• This will then be followed by an expanded meeting with officials from both sides and a working lunch.

• Read more about the historic meeting here.

Kim en route to meet Trump

• The convoy of North Korea's leader has left the St Regis Singapore for his historic talks with the US president.

• A North Korean flag flew from Kim's limousine as it drove to the summit venue in a convoy of about 20 vehicles, with onlookers lining the street and taking pictures.

• Kim and Trump will meet at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa island.

   

Trump on way to meet Kim

• The motorcade of the US president has left Shangri-La Hotel for his nuclear summit with Kim.

• The convoy is heading towards Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa island.

• The meeting is expected to take place at 9am local time, or 01:00 GMT.

Trump and Moon vow 'close coordination'

• Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, agreed to closely coordinate their steps following the historic summit in Singapore, the White House said in a statement on Tuesday.

• They "vowed to continue their close coordination" after the meeting, the White House added.

• The two leaders spoke by phone on Monday to discuss developments ahead of the summit.

Pompeo departs Singapore hotel for summit

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has left the Shangri-La Hotel where the US delegation is staying in the city-state.

Trump: We'll soon know if 'real' deal can happen

• Hours before his meeting with Kim, Trump wrote on Twitter that summit preparations between the two countries were "going well and quickly".

• He added, however: "In the end, that doesn't matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!"

• The US president has previously said he would know "within a minute" whether something good would come out of the summit.

A few minutes after his early Tuesday post, Trump used Twitter again to take aim at his critics:

Kim impressed after Singapore tour

• Following a night tour of some of Singapore's landmarks, Kim said he was impressed by the city's states economic development and hoped he could learn from the country, according to North Korea's state media.

• Kim said Singapore was "clean and beautiful", while looking at the view on Monday from the observation deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, adding that he had learned much about the Southeast Asian nation's economic potential and how it had developed, the official KCNA news agency said

PR stunt or substance?

• Michael Fuchs, a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress, a Washington-based think tank, believes that the Trump-Kim summit will likely to be "high on rhetoric and aspirations and probably low on detail".

• "One of the biggest fears out of this summit is that it is just a PR stunt and its reality TV for the cameras and then afterwards nothing happens in terms of substance or verification or implementation of any agreements that are made," he told Al Jazeera, speaking from Washington, DC.

• "And all we get out this is Kim Jong-un, one of the world's most ruthless dictators, looking more like an international superstar," Fuchs added.

• According to the White House, Trump and Kim will square off one-on-one, alone - without any advisers - except for a pair of translators for the first 45 minutes on Tuesday.

• Fuchs voiced concern that in the one-on-one sitting, the US president "who is not steeped in the details and history of the substance of these highly complex issues" might end up "agreeing to things that are not in the best interests of the United States."

UN ready to 'support' US-North Korea talks

• The United Nations is prepared to play a verification role if requested following talks in Singapore between Trump and Kim on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

• "Relevant parts of the United Nations system stand ready to support this process in any way, including verification if requested by the key parties. They are the protagonists," Guterres told reporters in New York on Monday. 

• The UN chief commended both Trump and Kim for pursuing a diplomatic solution and "seeking to break out of the dangerous cycle that created so much concern last year."

• "Peace and verifiable denuclearisation must remain the clear and shared goal," Guterres added.

 

Kim leaves hotel for city tour

• Kim left his luxurious hotel for a late-night city tour hours ahead of his summit with Trump. 

• Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Kim went to the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore on Monday night.

• The foreign minister posted a photo online showing him with Kim at the site.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Twitter

Analyst: N Korea looking for ‘fundamental change’ in US policy

• Mike Chinoy, a North Korea expert, believes North Koreans are looking for a fundamental change in the political relationship with the United States, and "what Pyongyang has always called the US' hostile policy".

• "North Koreans have made it clear that it needs to see concrete evidence of that change before it takes any irreversible steps to roll back its nuclear programme," he told Al Jazeera, speaking via Skype from Liverpool, England. "So, there is still a big question mark over how the two leaders are going to bridge that gap."

• Chinoy, who is the author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis, added that unless both the US and North Korea agree on the fundamental definition of the term denuclearisation, "making progress is going to be very tricky".

• "North Korea has always talked about denuclearisation of the entire Korean Peninsula, which in Pyongyang means ending the US nuclear umbrella that protects Japan and South Korea and scaling down US military presence in South Korea, while the Americans talk about denuclearisation as really referring only to North Korea's nuclear arsenal," he said. 

Trump to leave Singapore on Tuesday

• The White House has said that Trump will depart Singapore for the US on Tuesday evening at around 8pm (12:00 GMT). 

• In a statement, the Trump administration said discussions between the US and North Korea are "ongoing and have moved more quickly than expected". 

• Trump and Kim will meet Tuesday morning at 9am (01:00 GMT). They will have a one-on-one meeting which will only include translators, a bilateral meeting and a working lunch, the statement read. 

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton will be present at the bilateral meeting. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Ambassador Sung Kim and National Security Council Senior Director for Asia Matt Pottinger will join the lunch. 

In photos: Day before Kim-Trump summit

Denuclearisation process must be 'anchored in international law', ICAN

• Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, has said a denuclearisation process must happen within the context of the international legal framework.

• "Two unpredictable and in some case unreliable leaders are controlling this global issue that can threaten the entire world," she told Al Jazeera's James Bays. "It's time for the international legal framework, the treaties, to really put this denuclearisation process in context."

• Legal instruments including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty are the basis for any denuclearisation process and can "anchor it in international law", Fihn said.

• "This is really a historical possibility … the rest of the world needs to be involved in this process; we cannot leave it to these two countries that are clinging on to their weapons of mass destruction."

Pompeo: Complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula only acceptable outcome

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that CVID, or complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation, of the Korean Peninsula remains "the only outcome that the US will accept" from diplomacy with North Korea.

• At a press briefing before Tuesday's summit, Pompeo said "the ultimate objective" of such diplomacy had not changed. 

• He expressed hope that tomorrow's summit will "set the conditions for future productive talks". 

• Until North Korea has completely denuclearised, Pompeo said, "sanctions will remain". 

• He added Trump recognised North Korea's "desire for security", adding that the US was also prepared to "ensure that a North Korea free of weapons of mass destruction is also a secure North Korea". 

• Asked if a removal of US troops from South Korea was included in these security assurances, Pompeo refused to give any details but said the US is prepared to give assurances that are "different" and "unique" from what the US has been willing to provide previously. "We think this is both necessary and appropriate," he said. 

• Pompeo said that Trump was heading into the meeting with "confidence, a positive attitude and eagerness for real progress". He added Trump had made it clear that "if Kim Jong-un denuclearises, there is a brighter future for North Korea." 

Trump, Moon speak on phone

• Trump and Moon Jae-in spoke on the phone on Monday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

• Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Moon told Trump that the summit, if it succeeds, will be a "gift" to the world.

• "President Moon and President Trump agreed Trump and Kim will be able to make a great achievement if the two leaders come together to find a common denominator through frank discussions," Kim said. 

• In what Yonhap called the "unexpected" phone conversation, Trump said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would go to Seoul immediately after the summit.

South Korea's Moon Jae-in optimistic over talks

• South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday said he has "both expectations and hopes that tomorrow's summit will be a success", Yonhap news agency reported.

• Moon said the summit would be the start of a "long process" of denuclearising North Korea.

• "The deep-rooted hostile relationship and the North Korean nuclear issue cannot be resolved in one single action in a meeting between leaders," he said.

• Moon added that dialogue between North Korea and the US was not enough to resolve the nuclear issue. "We must also successfully develop the South-North Korean relationship at the same time," he said.

• Also on Monday, the special national security adviser to Moon Jae-in, Moon Chung-in, said "past behaviour should not be the yardstick to judge current or future behaviour of North Korea." He said that while the US has previously accused North Korea of breaking promises, "now is the time to set aside all those things."

'Peace deal bottom line for the US': analyst

• Speaking with Al Jazeera's James Bays, Alexander Neill of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said that the "bottom line" for the US and North Korea is to get a peace deal.

• "That's the lowest common denominator. They've got this far and there's so much political capital invested in this that to not walk away with something along those lines would be quite catastrophic," he said. 

• An armistice ended the Korean War in 1953, but North and South Korea never signed a peace agreement and are technically still at war. 

• The White House has said it wants to attain complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation (CVID). Neill thinks the leaders will take incremental steps towards that goal.

• "What they're going to be looking at I think is starting off with some cosmetic approaches, some choreography and then they're going to move in an incremental way towards ... CVID light perhaps," he said. "This is a handshake opportunity."

Trump returns to hotel

• Trump has returned to his hotel after meeting with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee. 

• In a statement, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said "The president is well prepared for tomorrow's engagement with Chairman Kim. The US position remains clear and unchanged."

• North Korea news agency KCNA commented on Tuesday's agenda, saying talks would focus on "the issue of building a permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean Peninsula, the issue of realising the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual concern".

• During his meeting, Trump was presented with an early birthday cake. The US president turns 72 on Thursday. 

Trump meets Singapore PM

• Donald Trump has sat down for lunch with his Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 

• The leaders met at Lee's official residence the Istana, where Kim Jong-un sat down with Lee on Sunday.

• During the lunch, Trump said he thinks "things can work out very nicely" at Tuesday's meeting. 

US-North Korean delegations wrap up meeting

• Officials from the US and North Korean delegations have finished up a meeting in preparation of Tuesday's summit. 

• US ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim led the US delegation while Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was part of North Korea's delegation. 

• The meeting lasted more than two hours and took place at the Ritz Carlton.

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the talks had been "substantive and detailed". 

Trump-Kim meeting: Theatrics over substance?

• The outcomes of Tuesday's unprecedented meeting are highly uncertain, but analysts say that the mere fact is happening is a step forward. 

• But there is doubt that denuclearisation of North Korea is achievable in the short term. 

• "North Korea cannot denuclearise completely right now and hope to be safe from a president who said we're going to rain fire and fury on you, from a country that's been calling you evil for 25 years," said Horacio Falcao, a negotiations expert at the INSEAD graduate business school in Singapore. 

• One analyst told Al Jazeera Trump will seek to promote his image as a deal-maker. 

• "Trump is a publicity seeker. He sees the summit not as a means to an end, but the end itself. He's much more interested in the theatrics of public policy, rather than the substance," Resnick said. 

• Read our analysis here. 

Singapore prepares for summit chaos

• Singapore is the Switzerland of Southeast Asia, wealthy and exclusive, a politically neutral small state surrounded by larger powers, writes Tom Benner. 

• Some 3,000 journalists are expected to descend on Singapore. Hotel rooms are at near capacity and taxi drivers are bracing for excessive demand and traffic gridlock. 

• The Tanglin neighbourhood surrounding the Shangri-La Hotel and the entire resort island of Sentosa will be locked down as "special event" areas with security measures such as road closures and spot checks.

• Read more about Singapore's preparations for the summit here. 

Trump and Kim arrive in Singapore

• Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un arrived in Singapore on Sunday in advance of their Tuesday meeting. 

• Kim met Singapore's Prime Minister Lee at his Istana residence after his arrival, in talks which North Korea's KCNA news agency said proceeded "in an amicable and friendly atmosphere".