What's on the table in Singapore? A birthday cake and North Korea denuclearisation

Complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula, or ‘CVID’ – will there be any mention of this key US demand when President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet Tuesday?

That appeared to be the main issue of debate on Monday as top aides from both sides met for last-minute talks on the joint communique to be issued after the historic summit between the two leaders.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Twitter that both sides held “substantive and detailed meetings” in a post accompanied with pictures of the veteran American diplomat Sung Kim, a Korea expert, meeting with Pyongyang officials.

North Korea’s delegation included Choe Son-hui, a top diplomat who handles ties with Washington.

The meeting, held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Singapore Marina Bay district, lasted about two hours, and delegates from both sides appeared expressionless as they left, a South China Morning Post reporter at the scene said.

They did not take questions from reporters. A second marathon session is expected to begin in the afternoon.

A South Korean parliamentary source told the Post both sides remained locked in debate over the contents of the joint communique.

“They are still debating over whether to put [the term] ‘CVID’ in the final draft,” the source said.

Trump’s administration has insisted that CVID is a foremost requirement that Pyongyang must meet for lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.

If the North Korean leader does indeed agree to completely abandon his country’s nuclear weapons programme, Trump is expected to ease sanctions on the hermit kingdom and pave the way for much-needed foreign direct investment in the country.

Pompeo hinted that Trump was unlikely to waver on this key demand, tweeting earlier on Monday that the US remained “committed” to CVID.

Another acronym used in nuclear circles is CVIG, or complete, verifiable, and irreversible guarantee. That term references Kim’s likely demand for formal guarantees that his regime would be left untouched if it complied with CVID.

North Korea’s state-run KCNA agency meanwhile commented for the first time on the landmark meeting, describing the event as an opportunity for the two sides to exchange “wide-ranging and profound views” on bilateral ties.

The talks would also involve “building a permanent and durable peacekeeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula and “the issue of realising the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” the agency said.

It noted that the meeting would be held “under the great attention and expectation of the whole world”.

Boo Seung-chan, a research fellow at South Korea’s Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies, told the Post both sides were likely “focusing their energy on… setting a timetable for CVID and CVIG.”

Meanwhile, there was no indication of Kim’s schedule for the whole of Monday, ahead of his meeting with Trump that begins at 9am on Tuesday.

Trump held talks with the Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after noon, making his first public appearance since arriving in the Lion City last night.

US President Donald Trump at lunch. Photo: Reuters

He told Lee “we have a very interesting meeting tomorrow and I think things can work out very nicely”.

“We appreciate your hospitality and professionalism and your friendship,” Trump told Lee, whose government is forking out some S$20 million (US$15 million) to host the summit. The cost includes the hotel bill for the North Korean delegation.

The Singaporean delegation also surprised the US leader with a birthday cake. Trump turns 72 on Thursday.

Earlier Trump had said the meeting was a “one-time shot” for Kim.

“I feel that Kim Jong-un wants to do something great for his people,” the US leader told reporters in Quebec, Canada, where he was attending the G7 summit.

“He has that opportunity, and he won’t have that opportunity again.”

There have been some speculation about the progress that will be made at the talks because of unconfirmed reports of Kim’s intention to leave Singapore at 2pm on Tuesday, just five hours after the scheduled start of the summit, to be held on the island resort of Sentosa.

Trump is expected to leave on Wednesday.

Asked about the likely departure times of both leaders, a Singaporean source involved in planning the summit would only say that the host city had factored in the “fluidity of the situation” and was prepared for last-minute changes in the schedule of both leaders.

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