Meet the two Indian-origin Singaporean ministers behind the Trump-Kim meet

Two Indian-origin ministers in Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan and K Shanmugam, are playing a key role in facilitating a hassle-free summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un here on Tuesday. Balakrishnan, Singapore's Foreign Minister, made important visits to Washington, Pyongyang and Beijing in recent days to ensure that there would be no last-minute spoilers for the historic meeting hosted by the city-state. Balakrishnan, 57, is from the ruling People's Action Party. 

He studied medicine and later pursued postgraduate education in ophthalmology. Shanmugam is Singapore's Minister for Law and Home Affairs and he has the responsibility to make sure that the summit, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean top leader, goes without a hitch from the security point of view. A lawyer by profession, 59-year-old Shanmugam also belongs to the ruling People's Action Party. Singapore is one of the few countries that have diplomatic relations with both the US and North Korea.

Kim Jong Un, Donald Trump in Singapore, on cusp of making history

US President Donald Trump arrived in Singapore on Sunday for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that could lay the groundwork for ending a nuclear stand-off between the old foes and the transformation of the isolated Asian nation. 

Trump flew into Singapore's Paya Lebar Air Base aboard Air Force One, looking to strike a deal that will lead to the denuclearisation of one of America's bitterest foes. He came from a divisive G7 meeting in Canada with some of Washington's closest allies that further strained global trade ties. After stepping down from Air Force One on a steamy tropical night, Trump was greeted by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. Asked by a reporter how he felt about the summit, Trump said: "Very good". North Korea's Kim landed in Singapore earlier on Sunday. When Trump and Kim meet on Tuesday at Sentosa, a resort island off Singapore's port with a Universal Studios theme park and man-made beaches, they will be making history.

Would invite Kim Jong-un to US if all goes well at Singapore summit: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would be willing to invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the White House if their Singapore summit goes well. Trump made the remarks after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the June 12 summit. "Maybe we'll start with the White House," he told reporters after he was asked whether he would invite the North Korean leader to the White House or Mar-a-lago. 

About the personal letter delivered to Trump from Kim last week, he said, "The letter was just a greeting. It was really very nice. Perhaps I can get approval to put it out. It was really a very warm letter, a very nice letter".

Think twice' before you 'Thunder': N Korea threatens to scrap Trump summit

North Korea abruptly canceled talks with South Korea and warned the U.S. to “think twice” about the fate of President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Kim Jong Un next month, tamping down hopes of a breakthrough at the historic summit.

North Korea told South Korean authorities that it was “indefinitely” suspending minister-level talks planned for Wednesday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. North Korea cited the annual South Korean-U.S. “Max Thunder” air defense drills in its decision to call off the meeting, which was intended to discuss implementing last month’s peace declaration with South Korea.

“The U.S. will have to think twice about the fate of the DPRK-U.S. summit now on high agenda before a provocative military racket against the DPRK in league with the south Korean authorities,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name. “We will closely watch the ensuing behavior of the U.S. and the South Korean authorities.”

Donald Trump to meet North Korea's Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore

President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore.

“The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th,” the president wrote on Twitter. “We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!”

Singapore -- almost 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) south of Pyongyang -- represents neutral turf for the two leaders. The city-state of 5.5 million people boasts security partnerships with the US, a North Korean embassy and strong ties with China.

The government there also has a history of putting together high-profile diplomatic events at short notice, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic 2015 meeting with his then-counterpart from Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. Still, Kim’s agreement to travel so far from the safety of Pyongyang -- the farthest he’s ever been as leader -- could be seen as a concession by North Korea.

Trump's contrasting avatars: Peace in Korea, World War in West Asia

The president giveth and he taketh away.

Donald Trump is a stern and wrathful leader. He thinks nothing of raining down fire and fury upon the enemies of his “chosen people.” Indeed, he even flirts with ending the world if he doesn’t receive due respect and the requisite number of burnt offerings. But he can also reward his followers, and those who curry his favor, with positions of power and untold riches.

This month, Trump will appear as both of these avatars. By meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump promises to wave his hand and create peace where before there was nothing but strife and dissension. At the same time, Trump the Destroyer has pledged to take the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and bring the world that much closer to apocalypse.

It’s a peculiarly hypocritical position to take, but strangely consistent for a two-faced leader.

The deal with Iran closed off all possibility of the country going nuclear for a decade or more. A rich country, Iran could create quite a nuclear arsenal if it so wanted. Iran has abided by the terms of the current Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and yet Trump has called the deal “horrible.” Indeed, the president believes that he can “fix” the JCPOA. That’s quite a delusion.

Singapore likely to be the venue for Trump-Kim meeting in June

US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un are likely to meet in Singapore next month, reports said Monday, as anticipation builds for unprecedented talks between the mercurial leaders.

Trump said at the weekend that the two sides had settled on a date and location for the summit -- the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader -- without providing details.

"We'll be announcing it soon," Trump told reporters. The landmark summit will take place in "mid-June", South Korea's Chosun Ilbo daily reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources who quoted Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The newspaper suggested that the possibility of Singapore hosting the landmark meeting had "increased greatly", after a decision by Trump to host South Korean president Moon Jae-in at the White House later this month, without giving further explanation.

Bolton met his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong in Washington late last week to discuss plans for both locations, according to local media reports.

A similar report on the weekend from South Korea's Yonhap news agency also said Singapore was firming as the favoured location for the summit.

Good chance Kim Jong Un will give up his country's nuclear weapons: Trump

US President Donald Trump, who has agreed to meet with Kim Jong Un, said on Wednesday there is a now a good chance the North Korean leader will give up his country's nuclear weapons.

"For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility," Trump wrote in an early morning tweet.

This is what he tweeted:

For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility. Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Look forward to our meeting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 28 March 2018

His comments came as Kim completed a secretive and unprecedented visit to Beijing on Wednesday as the two countries seek to repair frayed ties before Pyongyang's landmark summits with Washington and earlier with South Korea.

To deal with Kim Jong-un, Trump must be less like Trump

Donald Trump’s decision to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in character. The U.S. president loves outlandish plot twists that confound critics and supporters alike.


Agreeing to this meeting was questionable. It’s something previous presidents have refused to do, and with reason: It’s a concession that demanded something valuable from the other side. Trump has not secured that, and he appears to have acted impulsively. This isn’t encouraging -- but the decision has been made and what matters now is to make the best of it.


That will require Trump to be less like Trump.


His administration deserves credit for marshaling a stringent global sanctions regime that’s taking a real toll on North Korea. His intemperate threats have pushed Chinese leaders into adopting harsher sanctions than they might otherwise have done. Yet Kim also has reason to feel emboldened: He’s won a face-to-face meeting with a sitting U.S. president -- a coup neither his father nor grandfather achieved -- without committing to much beyond a pause in nuclear and missile tests. Trump, impressed to a fault with his own accomplishments, shouldn’t assume his adversary has been cowed.

Donald Trump needs unfamiliar tools like patience for North Korea talks

President Donald Trump will need to adopt an unfamiliar set of traits -- patience, persistence, clear goals and conditions -- and be prepared to walk away when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, people who have negotiated with Kim’s regime say.


Trump’s apparently impromptu decision to begin setting up talks contrasts with Kim’s situation -- North Korea has prepared deliberately for decades for a meeting with the sitting U.S. president as a major step toward gaining international legitimacy.


Negotiations with the North Korean regime are “very painstaking and, frankly, painful,” said Christopher Hill, who served as U.S. ambassador to South Korea and assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush. “You think you have an agreement one minute and then you don’t the next minute.”

Very good deal with Kim underway says Trump as N Korea vows to denuclearise

US President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to give an update on the recent breakthroughs achieved to de-nuclearise North Korea, claiming a deal with the Kim Jong Un-headed country was underway and it would be a "very good one" for the world.

"The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined," tweeted Trump on Friday.

The tweet also said the "time and place" of the historic meeting between Kim and Trump have yet to be decided.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the country has made "zero concessions" for advancing talks and would need "concrete and verifiable actions" regarding de-nuclearisation in order for the meeting of the two leaders to go ahead.

Trump hails 'progress' after agreeing to meet Kim Jong Un; sanctions remain

US President Donald Trump hailed “great progress” in talks with North Korea after agreeing to meet Kim Jong Un in what would be an unprecedented summit.


“Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearisation with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze,” Trump said on Twitter late Thursday in Washington. “Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said earlier the meeting would occur at “a place and time to be determined.” The announcement was first made by South Korean National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong, who told reporters in Washington that Kim “expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible” and that Trump “said he would meet Kim Jong Un by May to achieve permanent denuclearisation.”

North Korea's Kim ready to give up nukes if his regime safety is guaranteed

North Korea is open to denuclearization if the safety of Kim Jong Un’s regime is guaranteed, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office said.
The two leaders will meet for a summit at the end of April along the border, the statement said, adding that North Korea was ready for candid talks with the U. S. to normalize relations.
“North Korea has clearly expressed its intention for denuclearlization on the Korean peninsula, and if there is no military threat, and North Korea’s regime security is promised, they have clarified that there is no reason to hold nuclear weapons,” Moon’s office said.
US President Donald Trump has said that North Korea must be willing to denuclearize before talks can begin.

Tensions have risen over the past year as Kim has sought the capability to strike the US homeland with a nuclear weapon.
North Korea has agreed to halt nuclear and missile tests while talks are taking place, Moon’s office said. It also pledged to avoid using nuclear or conventional weapons against South Korea, it said.

South Korean delegation holds talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

A South Korean delegation met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday, a South Korean official said, after arriving in the North on a visit aimed at encouraging North Korea and the United States to talk.

Both North Korea and the United States have expressed a willingness to talk, but US President Donald Trump demands the North first gives up its nuclear weapons programme.
The North, which has vowed never to give up its nuclear deterrent against what it sees as U. S. hostility, says it will not sit down to talks under preconditions.
Reclusive North Korea, which has made no secret of its pursuit of a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the mainland United States in defiance of U. N. Security Council resolutions, is also concerned about a joint U.

S.-South Korea military exercise, which it sees as preparation for war.
South Korean officials have said the drill will start next month as planned, after being postponed for the Winter Olympics held last month in South Korea.

Sporting events that rocked world politics, from Hitler to Nixon

The Winter Olympics starting this week in South Korea are the latest in a string of sporting events that have helped shape global politics.

Whether it be an emerging power challenging a dominant one (1908), a dictator looking for a propaganda coup (1936) or a terrorist group looking to shock the world (1972), global sporting events are often more about what goes on away from the playing field.

This year, South Korean President Moon Jae-in invited North Korea in the hope that a detente would help avert a devastating war over its nuclear program. While it’s unclear if the Games will lead to a lasting peace, they’ve already been successful for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: He’s grabbed more headlines than any of the athletes.

Trump's 'bigger nuke' threat keeps N-Korea's Kim 'on his toes': Nikki Haley

US President Donald Trump’s tweet about having a bigger nuclear button than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s has kept Kim “on his toes” and makes clear the risks of a nuclear standoff, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Sunday.

After Kim asserted that he had a nuclear button at the ready, Trump last week dismissed the taunt by saying in a tweet that the US button at his disposal was bigger and more powerful.

The comment drew criticism, including from former Vice President Joe Biden, who said it caused allies to lose confidence in Washington.

Asked on the ABC program “This Week” whether the president’s tweet was a good idea, Haley said: “I think that (Trump) always has to keep Kim on his toes. It’s very important that we don’t ever let him get so arrogant that he doesn’t realize the reality of what would happen if he started a nuclear war.”

Haley said North Korea should be clear that the United States will not reduce pressure on Kim.

“We’re not going to let them go and dramatise the fact that they have a button right on their desk and they can destroy America,” she said. “We want to always remind them we can destroy you too, so be very cautious and careful with your words and what you do.”
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After trading barbs, Trump open to talks with North Korea's Kim Jong-un

President Donald Trump, shelving comparisons about the size of a "nuclear button", said he is open to talking with the North Korean leader he's called "Little Rocket Man" and hopes some progress results from upcoming talks between the Koreas.

Trump, who last year lambasted his chief diplomat for talking about negotiations with the nuclear-armed North, told reporters at Camp David that some dialogue or direct conversation with Kim Jong Un was not beyond the realm of possibility.

"Sure, I always believe in talking," Trump said. "Absolutely, I would do that, I wouldn't have a problem with that at all." But he was quick to add that any talks would come with conditions, which he did not specify.

The first formal talks between North and South in more than two years are set to take place in a border town Tuesday as the rivals try to find ways to cooperate on the Winter Olympics in the South and to improve their ties. Tensions are high because of the North's nuclear and missile programs.

"Right now they're talking Olympics. It's a start, it's a big start," Trump said during a question-and-answer session after meetings with GOP leaders in Congress and Cabinet members on the administration's 2018 legislative agenda.
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North Korea says will become 'most powerful' nuclear and military state

In a challenge to the global order, North Korea has issued a threat that it will become "world's most powerful nuclear and military state".

Pyongyang's assertion of ambitions to global supremacy came on Friday after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Security Council, "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is the most tense and dangerous peace and security issue in the world today."

Pyongyang "will march forward and make great advancement victoriously as world's most powerful nuclear and military state upholding the line on simultaneous development of the Two Fronts," North Korea's Permanent Representative Ja Song-nam told the Security Council during a session on the threat from his country's nuclear and missile programmes.

The mention of "Two Fronts" is a reference to North Korea's theory of simultaneously developing its military capabilities, as well as its economy, which are both vulnerable to international sanctions.

With the characteristic bombast of his country's rhetoric, Ja dismissed the Council as "tool" of the US, which he said is "terrified by the incredible might of our republic".

He described the latest North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test on November 29 as the "Great November Event" leading to "completing the state nuclear force" and "building a rocket power".
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North Korea tunnel near nuclear base collapses; up to 200 killed: Report

A tunnel at North Korea’s nuclear test site collapsed after Pyongyang’s sixth atomic test in September, possibly killing more than 200 people, Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi said on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

Reuters has not been able to verify the report.

About 100 workers at the Punggye-ri nuclear site were affected by the initial collapse, which took place around Sept. 10, the broadcaster said.

A second collapse during a rescue operation meant it was possible the death toll could have exceeded 200, it added.

Experts have said a series of tremors and landslides near the nuclear test base probably mean the country’s sixth and largest blast on Sept. 3 has destabilised the region, and the Punggye-ri nuclear site may not be used for much longer to test nuclear weapons.

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Five assumptions we make about North Korea - and why they're wrong

In the 2004 comedy film Team America, Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, is illustrative of a popular view of North Korea that both feeds and is fed by the perception that the Kim regime is irrational, crazy and evil.

This caricature is a poor foundation on which to build a North Korea policy.

Proponents of this view point to the Kim regime’s horrendous human rights record and the Orwellian social controls put in place to maintain the Kims at the head of North Korea’s unique authoritarian political system.
While the regime’s coercive arms have been responsible for crimes against the North Korean people that could be considered “evil”, this does not suffice as an explanation for why it engages in these practices.

The “why” is important. It feeds information into risk analyses and pinpoints leverage points for strategic interactions with North Korea.

We don’t have to like this logic or agree on its strategic utility to see there is rational strategy at work. We need to locate Kim and his regime within the context of the complex incentives and constraints of North Korea’s interwoven political, economic, cultural and ecological systems.

It is useful to step back from the whirlwind of recent developments to place the current situation in the broader context of North Korea’s regime survival strategy.
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