North Korea summit all ready to go; will be more than photo-op,says Donald Trump

Washington, Jun 7: US President Donald Trump said that he was "well-prepared" for the much awaited summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore and asserted that the meeting would be "more than a photo-op".

Singapore has designated a special event area of the Sentosa island tourist resort for Tuesday's historic summit, which is expected to be covered by over 2,500 journalists from across the world. There was initially much uncertainty over whether the summit would go ahead at all, and it was briefly called off last month by Trump after a dispute with the North Koreans over the key issue of denuclearisation.

"I think I'm very well prepared. I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about the attitude. It's about willingness to get things done. But I think I've been preparing for the summit for a long time," Trump told reporters in a brief joint media appearance with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Oval Office. "As has the other side... They've been preparing for a long time, also. So this isn't a question of preparation, it's a question of whether or not people want it to happen, and we'll know that very quickly," he said.

Responding to a question, the US president said it will be more than a photo-op. "Well, it's gonna be much more than a photo-op. I think it's a process. I've told you that many times before. I think it's not a one meeting deal. It would be wonderful if it were. "They've been doing this for a long time. They've got a lot of enemies out there. A lot of dislike, a lot of hatred between countries. This will not be just a photo-op. This will be at a minimum, we'll start with perhaps a good relationship," Trump said.

And that's something very important toward the ultimate making of a deal, he said. "I'd love to say it could happen in one deal, maybe it can," he said. Trump insisted that N Korea has to denuclearise. "They have to denuke. If they don't denuclearise, that will not be acceptable. We cannot take sanctions off. The sanctions are extraordinarily powerful, we cannot – and I could add a lot more, but I don't, I've chosen not to do that at this time. But that may happen," he said. "By the way, with Iran, we're adding tremendously powerful sanctions. They understand that very well. I think Iran already is not the same country... You look, I don't think they're looking so much to the Mediterranean like they were two months ago. "So, it's a big difference. It was number one nuclear, but also out of it, you also get the side benefit that Iran is a different place. And you'll see what happens, and maybe ultimately something will happen with Iran," he said in response to a question.

Trump said that this is something that should have been handled many years ago by other presidents. "It shouldn't be handled now, it should have been handled years ago. But it is being handled now, and I'll take care of it," said the US President. The Japanese Prime Minister is visiting the White House for talks with Trump ahead of the next week's US-N Korea Summit.

Multiple US and N Korean teams are holding simultaneous meetings ahead of the Singapore Summit. More than 2,500 people from the local and international news media are expected to cover the event in Singapore, according to the number of registrations received by the ministry of communications and information. The summit is taking place following a rapid detente between Pyongyang and Seoul and Washington. Tensions had soared last year after the North conducted missile and nuclear tests.

PTI