Alwaght- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Singapore Sunday ahead of a summit with US President Donald Trump.
He was greeted by Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, who posted a picture on Twitter of him shaking hands with Kim and the message: “Welcomed Chairman Kim Jong Un, who has just arrived in Singapore.”
He is due to meet with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong later Sunday. Lee will have a separate meeting with Trump on Monday on the resort island of Sentosa.
Enemies since the 1950-53 Korean War, the leaders of North Korea and the United States have never met previously - or even spoken on the phone.
Jong Un is staying at the St Regis Hotel where around 20 North Korean guards had earlier taken up positions, some on upper floors overlooking the hotel's lobby, CNN reported.
Together with Singaporean police officers and hotel staff they created a human shield around the entrance blocking Kim's arrival from view. Strict security saw hotel guests banned from holding phones or bags and told to remain seated.
A procession of North Korean officials, including his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, arrived shortly afterward.
The U.S. delegation, en route from the G7 meeting in Canada, will arrive Sunday evening, and Trump is set to meet with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday.
While Trump spoke positively about his upcoming meeting with Kim, he was vague on the details of what they might actually achieve.
"I feel that Kim Jong Un wants to do something great for his people," Trump told reporters at a press conference in Canada before departing the G7 summit. "And he has that opportunity, and he won't have that opportunity again."
Trump also speculated that the summit might not work out. He would know, he told reporters, very early on in meeting Kim, if it would.
"I think within the first minute I'll know," Trump said. "At a minimum, I do believe, at least we'll have met each other," Trump said, adding later that "hopefully, we will have liked each other."
Sources told CNN that US officials have established a contingency plan for a potential second day of discussions between Trump and Kim depending on the direction of their planned meeting on June 12.
The cost of the summit for Singapore was some $15 million, Singapore Prime Minister Lee told reporters Sunday at the media center the city-state had constructed to deal with the enormous international demand.
"It's our contribution to an international endeavor which is in our profound interest," Lee said.
Since Kim decided to reach out through diplomatic means to the South in January of this year, he has signaled that he is prepared to accept certain aspects of the US-South Korea military alliance.
