BEIJING: Singapore’s foreign minister says it’s “all systems go” for a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be held in the Southeast Asian city-state next week.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Saturday in Beijing after returning from North Korea that “things will start happening within the next 24 hours.” He didn’t provide details in his remarks to Singaporean reporters .
“I went there to make sure that everything was spick and span and in place, no last minute spoilers or difficulties,” Balakrishnan said.
Trump and Kim plan to meet in Singapore on Tuesday. It will be the first summit of its kind between a leader of North Korea and a sitting US president.
Balakrishnan had visited Washington earlier in the week and met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US National Security Adviser John Bolton. He told reporters that Washington and Pyongyang are pleased with the arrangements and said he sees sincerity from both sides ahead of the talks.
“If a breakthrough is achieved, if peace comes, there will be a bountiful harvest, primarily of course within the Korean Peninsula but indeed for all the rest of us,” he said.
The summit has fueled hopes in South Korea that the two leaders may weigh a formal declaration to end the Korean War. The 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, but not a formal peace treaty.
