How North Korea reported the Singapore summit

Korea Central News Agency hails Trump-Kim
talks as ‘meeting of the century’

In Depth

In North Korea, however, the conclusion was clear:
yesterday’s meeting was a major diplomatic victory for Kim
and for Pyongyang as a whole.

“The news covered the front page of the ruling party’s newspaper
and was the top – and only – item on the first news broadcast of
the day on Korean Central Television, which for many North Koreans
is the only channel available,” says CBS News.

“People crowded around poster stands at subway stations around
the capital to read the news, and gathered at noon in front of the
city’s main train station to watch a big-screen display of images
of Kim getting off the special Air China flight that took him to
Singapore.”

The tightly controlled state-owned Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) heaped praise
on Kim’s conduct at the “meeting of the century”, which will
end “extreme, hostile relations” between North Korea and the
US.

The BBC reports that such widespread coverage is a “big
break from Pyongyang’s usual behaviour, which doesn’t – as a rule –
report on Kim’s activities until he is safely back in Pyongyang”.
Even more surprisingly, “they have also told North Koreans the
exact purpose of the visit”, the British broadcaster adds.

According to KCNA, Trump “appreciated that an atmosphere of
peace and stability was created on the Korean Peninsula and in the
region, although distressed with the extreme danger of armed clash
only a few months ago, thanks to the proactive peace-loving
measures taken by the respected Supreme Leader from the outset of
this year”.

“Singapore, the country of the epoch-making meeting much awaited
by the whole world, was awash with thousands of domestic and
foreign journalists and a large crowd of masses to see this day’s
moment which will remain long in history,” the agency added.

The summit has been widely regarded as a diplomatic coup for
North Korea, after Kim repeated his commitment towards
denuclearisation in a joint statement, The Guardian reports. The
statement made no mention of how that would be achieved.

Trump also announced that the US and South Korea would halt its
joint military exercises in the region while negotiations were
ongoing – a plan that had not been mentioned nor agreed with the
America’s allies in East Asia prior to the summit.

Japan’s defence minister said today that the joint military
exercises were “vital” for East Asian security and that he “would
like to seek an understanding of this between Japan, the US and
South Korea”.