Among all other things, Donald Trump will also be remembered for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Singapore Summit of 2018. Trump came a long way from his barbs of tiny rocket man to his greeting of Mr. Chairman. After much theatrics, the effort of South Korean President Moon Jae-in was successful when Kim and Trump became first sitting leaders of their countries. However, critics say that the summit lacked talks on human rights violation by North Korea. Apart from this, the key takeaways from the Singapore Summit are as follows –
- Commitment to establish new relations in order to maintain peace. The US pledged security guarantees to the North and Kim recommitted to complete denuclearization.
- Joint efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
- Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, North Korea commits to work toward complete denuclearization.
- Their commitment to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
- The countries are set to hold follow-up negotiations, led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level North Korean official, at the earliest possible date in order to implement the outcomes of the summit.
It will be important to see how these commitments are implemented, for the world needs peace.