Kim Jong-un Arrives in Singapore For Historic US-North Korea Summit

Singapore, June 10: North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly arrived in Singapore, where he is scheduled to hold a historic summit with US President Donald Trump on June 12.

Singaporean media claimed Jong-un arrived in the island nation via the Air China flight. Pyongyang had so far issued no official itenary related to his visit. Speculations are, however, rife over Jong-un halting in China before heading back home after the conclusion of the US-North Korea summit.

The unprecedented decision to hold talks was taken by US and Pyongyang following the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Seoul.

The ice-breaker was the visit of Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong to South Korea, along with the North's delegations during the Winter games. Her warm reception by South Korean president Moon Jae-in set the ball-rolling towards de-escalation.

A couple of months later, Jong-un agreed for a bilateral meeting with Jae-in at the demilitarised zone between the North and South.

Following a successful round of talks with Jae-in, Pyongyang was proposed by Seoul on behalf of Washington to hold a direct bilateral meeting between Trump and Jong-un.

The summit was almost chalked out earlier in the month after Donald Trump said he would not participate due to the "hostile behaviour" of North Korea. Seoul, however, played the negotiator again, with Moon Jae-in convincing Pyongyang to send Kim Yong-chul, the North's Second-in-Command, to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the White House.

The Pompeo-Yong meet was shortly followed by Trump's announcement that the summit with North Korea is "on". The gesture was reciprocated by Pyongyang which confirmed Jong-un's participation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 10, 2018 12:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).