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Kim Jong, Trump Commit To Restart Repatriating Remains From North Korea

13 June 2018


Ms Bishop has cautiously welcomed the overall progress in the summit but warned North Korea's denuclearisation must be thoroughly verified and dismissed Mr Trump's concession on military exercises.

They showed us that when it comes to denuclearizing a peninsula, every word matters. Pyongyang has since pulled out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, built a complete nuclear fuel cycle, assembled an arsenal of nuclear weapons and developed the missiles to fire them.

And let's not forget to thank Dennis Rodman, who, five years ago, tried to tell President Obama that Kim Jong-un was open to talking. At the same time, the spokesman didn't condemn the decision, and Seoul has repeatedly pressed for a cautious approach to North Korea rather than the hasty agreement that Trump and Pompeo had originally pursued. He described it as a failure that got nothing, at a cost of $3 billion in giveaways. He even adopted North Korea's language for the exercises, calling them "very provocative". It committed North Korea to accept worldwide inspections and stay in the non-proliferation treaty, under which its pursuit of a nuclear bomb was illegal.

Bishop said the sanctions against North Korea remained in place and would not be removed until such time as North Korea had proven it has dismantled its nuclear weapons program. Tuesday's statement made no mention of inspectors.

In a blockbusting press conference after the summit, Trump said the USA would halt military exercises with Seoul - something long sought by Pyongyang, which claims the drills are a rehearsal for invasion.



Trump had been scheduled to fly back to Washington tomorrow morning after spending today with Kim in Singapore, but on the eve of the summit, he altered his schedule, opting to return at about 8pm today after a full day of meetings with Kim - nearly 15 hours earlier than previously anticipated.

Many North Korea watchers have noted that the Singapore summit agreement lacks substance, despite Trump touting it as "very comprehensive".

"At best this is a tentative beginning down a road that will take many years, " he said by phone. "It doesn't spell out the pacing or sequencing for action-for-action steps, it does not - and nor did President Trump in his press conference - suggest they have agreed definitions on what denuclearization entails and what a creating a peace regime specifically entails".

"Sanctions are a means, not an end", Geng said.

Still, said Kovrig, it is too early to judge the summit either way.

After greeting each other, the two leaders planned to sit for a one-on-one meeting that a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said could last up to two hours, with only translators joining them.

Trump's pledge to end joint exercises with South Korea without explicit concessions from North Korea to lower the military threat posed by Pyongyang took South Korean and USA military officials by surprise.

The US and South Korea suspending their military exercises in exchange for the North stopping its missile launches and nuclear tests is the exact situation China wants to see on the peninsula.

Kim Jong, Trump Commit To Restart Repatriating Remains From North Korea