SINGAPORE (AP) — The Latest on the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in Singapore (all times local):
A joint declaration signed by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says the U.S. has committed to providing “security guarantees” to the North.
The document signed at the end of the pair’s historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday also says Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
.@POTUS and Chairman Kim Jong Un sign a document after their meeting at the #SingaporeSummit pic.twitter.com/xC3iHlitYx
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 12, 2018
It’s unclear exactly what Trump has promised Kim in terms of security. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to say Monday whether guarantees might include withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula.
A copy of the text snapped by a photographer at the signing summit says Trump and Kim also discussed how to build “a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula” in their talks.
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2:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have signed a joint document in which they commit to working “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
The document signed by the leaders at their historic summit Tuesday also says they will join efforts “to build a lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula.
The White House has yet to release the document’s text. But it was photographed by the news media during a signing ceremony.
The document lays out four broad commitments. It says the sides “commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.”
And it says they will commit to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2018
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2:15 p.m.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left the small Singapore island that was the site of his meeting with President Donald Trump.
Kim’s convoy was left Sentosa Island on Tuesday afternoon after he signed a document with the American president, who stayed behind at the hotel where the two leaders met.
Both leaders characterized the document they signed as historic though neither provided details. Trump says the details would come later.
The summit was the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
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5:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he really believes North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is going to make good on his promise to denuclearize.
Trump said Tuesday near the end of a lengthy press conference in Singapore that he may be wrong about Kim, but he’ll never admit it.
Trump jokes that he “may stand before you in six months and say, ‘Hey, I was wrong.'” But he says, “I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that.”
Trump appeared to be in a good spirits as he answered questions for almost an hour following a day of meetings with Kim and other North Korean officials.
He ended by congratulating reporters and saying he’s eager to “take it a little bit easy” now that the highly anticipated summit is over.
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5:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he thinks “we’ll probably need another summit”— or at least a second meeting — with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as they discuss Kim’s commitment to denuclearization.
But Trump told reporters in Singapore on Tuesday that he and Kim were able to cover far more ground than he’d expected.
He says, “We’re much further along than I would have thought.”
Trump answered reporters’ questions at a free-wheeling press conference before returning to the U.S.
He appeared to be enjoying himself as he went back and forth with the press.
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5:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says North Korea has a “substantial arsenal” of nuclear weapons and the summit should have happened five years ago.
At a news conference Tuesday after his meeting with Kim Jong Un, Trump discussed efforts to press him to get rid of its nuclear weapons.
The president says that the U.S. doesn’t have a lot of intelligence on the country but that “we have enough intelligence to know that what they have is very substantial.”
The president says Kim understands what the U.S. has been pushing for in the talks. Trump says, “I think he’s going to do these things.”
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5:15 p.m.
The spokesman for the Iranian government is warning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that President Donald Trump could nullify any nuclear deal with North Korea.
The semi-official Fars news agency quotes Mohammad Bagher Nobakht as saying Tuesday: “We are facing a man who revokes his signature while abroad.”
Nobakht’s remarks are the first by an Iranian official after Trump and Kim concluded their nuclear summit.
While flying for talks with Kim on Sunday, Trump rejected an agreement signed by the leaders of the G-7 countries at their summit in Canada.
The U.S. also pulled out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May.
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5:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump says discussions over the next steps to take with North Korea will be happening soon.
Trump said Tuesday after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore that “We’re getting together next week to go into the details.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2018
It’s unclear where those discussions will take place or which North Korean officials will be involved.
But he says the talks will include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton.
A joint agreement signed by the two leaders earlier Tuesday says the U.S. and North Korea have committed to hold follow-up negotiations, led by Pompeo and “a relevant high-level DPRK official” at the “earliest possible date.”
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10:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is sounding optimistic about his ability to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program after a lengthy one-on-one meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.
#SingaporeSummit
(📸@AP @EvanVucci) pic.twitter.com/JK9qfsd2xc— Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) June 12, 2018
Trump said Tuesday at the beginning of expanded discussions with aides from both countries that “We will solve a big problem” and “a big dilemma.”
He talked about the pair achieving “tremendous success together” and predicts that “it will be successful. It will be done.”
It was hard to hear the president and Kim over the constant clicking of camera shutters, and it remains unclear precisely what he was referring to.
But Kim appeared to echo the president’s optimism.
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9:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump says that his one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “very, very good” and that the two have an “excellent relationship.”
Trump and Kim met for about 40 minutes Tuesday one-on-one, joined only by interpreters.
Trump made the comments as he and Kim walked together along balcony as they headed to a larger meeting with aides.
Trump was flanked in the larger meeting by chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. They sat across the table from Kim and his team.
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9:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump is predicting that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have “a terrific relationship” as they meet face to face for the first time.
Trump said Tuesday after meeting Kim that he’s feeling “really great.” He says, “We’re going to have a great discussion and a terrific relationship.”
Kim says through an interpreter that it “was not easy to get here” and that there “were obstacles but we overcame them to be here.”
The two men are expected to meet on their own for the better part of an hour, with only a pair of interpreters in the room.
That decision has raised concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness.
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9:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are sharing a historic handshake as they meet for the first time.
.@POTUS Donald J. Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. #SingaporeSummit pic.twitter.com/CWhiLO4dAa
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 12, 2018
The two clasped hands for a long while Tuesday as they posed for photos in front of a row of U.S. and North Korean flags. Trump then directed Kim to walk down a hallway, where they briefly spoke.
It’s the first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader.
Trump and Kim arrived not long ago on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, the site of their unprecedented summit. It’s aimed at settling a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal.
The two will huddle alone for roughly 45 minutes before being joined by aides for a larger meeting and working lunch.
Trump has said he’ll know within minutes whether a deal can be made.
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8:35 a.m.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived at Singapore’s Sentosa Island, where he’ll be meeting shortly face-to-face with President Donald Trump.
The two men are expected to share a handshake before they meet alone with a pair of interpreters for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby.
After the intimate huddle, they’re scheduled to hold a larger meeting and working lunch. Trump’s chief of staff, national security adviser and secretary of state are among those expected to join.
The meeting is the first sit-down between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader and is meant to settle a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Trump earlier defended his decision to meet with Kim, tweeting that North Korea has already released three detainees and that missile tests have halted.
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