As we have been doing all day, we begin with latest from Singapore, where the North Korea-U.S.
summit will be held.
Our Lee Ji-won is standing by in the host nation... as part of our special summit coverage
team.
Let's connect to the International Media Center right now.
Ji-won.
What do you have for us?
Daniel, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a press briefing about two hours ago
and he confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump recognizes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's
desire for security and that the U.S. is prepared to ensure that a North Korea free of weapons
of mass destruction is also a secure North Korea.
Pompeo also mentioned that the U.S. and North Korean delegates who had been negotiating
over at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom for the past few days met again
in the afternoon,... following their seventh meeting this morning,... and that the two
sides were still meeting as he spoke.
Pompeo said the discussions were progressing quickly.
"They are in fact moving quite rapidly and we anticipate they will come to their logical
conclusion even more quickly than we had anticipated."
And while correcting a New York Times report, Pompeo emphasized that the U.S. has been working
for over three months with more than 100 experts multiple times a week to address technical
and logistical issues in dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs.
He also said that the experts include people with specialized knowledge of North Korea's
nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs.
He also said that the U.S. remains firm on what it wants from the North.
"The ultimate objective we was seek from diplomacy with North Korea has not changed -- complete,
verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the only outcome
that the United States will accept."
Pompeo also stressed that sanctions will remain until North Korea completely and verifiably
eliminates its weapons of mass destruction programs.
And that if diplomacy does not move in the right direction, those measures will increase.
But he also said President Trump is open to expanding access to foreign investment and
other economic opportunities for North Korea if they take the right steps.
Ji-won there seems to be a lot still left to settle,... with the summit prep talks still
being carried out.
Can you tell us more about that?
Sure Daniel.
The details of the agenda for tomorrow's summit were being discussed in the meeting between
America's ambassador to the Philippines and its former nuclear negotiator Sung Kim...
and North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui.
And judging from Pompeo's briefing,... it seems like the two could be getting closer
to what they want.
But to tell you what they were stuck on,... inside sources have said that the discussions
seem to have hinged on the notion of North Korea's complete, verifiable, irreversible
denuclearization,... or CVID.
Unnamed sources say the U.S. seeks to get a commitment from the North to CVID in writing,...
but Pyongyang is protesting strongly against the phrase,... because it sees it as portraying
the regime as a defeated country.
But with Pompeo having said that they are reaching a conclusion faster than they had
expected,... many are expressing careful optimism for tomorrow's summit.
Now,... of course,... the result of that summit have a direct bearing on security on the Korean
Peninsula and on future developments in inter-Korean relations,... so the South Korean government
is **on the ground and is keeping a close watch.
Our Oh Jung-hee has this report.
Negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. are continuing until the very last minute,
but that ain't anything to worry.
That's according to South Korea's presidential office of Chungwadae... at a press briefing
in Singapore on Monday.
Speaking to the international press, the Seoul governtment reassured... the fact that North
Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump are sitting face-to-face, in
and of itself, is a big leap forward.
"The fact that the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. arrived in Singapore yesterday
marks the official beginning to the summit and is highly significant.
We expect a fierce tug-of-war to continue between the two sides until tomorrow's summit
ends, but we also expect some good outcome."
During the 7 decades that have passed since the end of the Korean War,... there's been
no single North Korea-U.S. summit.
And that is why, Seoul says, it's all the more crucial for both sides to build and confirm
confidence in each other... at this first-ever summit.
An unnamed official from South Korea's presidential office highlighted... it is one of Pyongyang's
biggest goals to be recognized as a sincere partner for dialogue.
The South Korean government is cautious in its comments on the Pyongyang-Washington summit,
but it's keeping close tabs on the developments,... dispatching a special team of officials on
the ground.
The team is to deliver the latest developments of Kim-Trump summit to the home government,...
while bringing and releasing the South Korean government's own response as well.
All that will happen at Korea Press Center -- a press center Seoul set up in Singapore
separately from International Media Center.
"As for now, there's a low possibility that a three-way summit involving South Korean
President Moon Jae-in will happen after the North Korea-U.S. summit ends, but Seoul says
it will stay ready for all possible scenarios.
Once the results of the summit is out, Seoul is to release its official response here,
at the Korea Press Center.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News, Singapore."
That's all we have from Singapore as of now, and we'll be joining you again live from early
morning tomorrow for the much anticipated historic meeting between North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
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