INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By apparently agreeing to meet Trump 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) away from PyongyangSingapore: It has one
foot in the East and one in the West, is ultra-modern, secure and sometimes mocked as being a little dull -- Singapore was the safe pick for
a historic first meeting between the unpredictable leaders of the US and North Korea.US President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed that
the summit -- a first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader -- would take place in Singapore on June 12."We will both try
to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" he tweeted.Singapore also confirmed it would host the meeting, but did not give further
details. "We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula," the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in
a statement late Thursday.It followed a second visit to Pyongyang by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday to make arrangements for
the summit. The Southeast Asian financial hub was likely chosen for its neutrality, security advantages and track record of hosting
international summits, observers say. The ultramodern city-state has a robust security infrastructure and is widely considered one of the
safest cities in Asia.It has tight restrictions over media and public gatherings, which will allow for a controlled environment likely to be
preferred by the North Koreans.Singapore is also in the rare position of having friendly diplomatic ties with both Washington and
Pyongyang.It considers the US a close partner, while North Korea maintains a fully functioning embassy in the city-state.Singapore and the
North have a long history of cooperation -- the first law firm and fast food restaurant in Pyongyang were both set up by Singaporeans --
even if relations hit a snag last year when Singapore enforced new UN sanctions on trade. Singapore will also be acceptable to China, North
Korea's only major ally, which wields a strong influence despite its physical absence from next month's proceedings."As a neutral, and
objective country with much-admired consistent foreign policy principles and a small state with no desire or capacity to harm other states
and their interests, Singapore fits that bill well," said Lim Tai Wei, adjunct research fellow at the National University of Singapore's
East Asia Institute. 'No baggage'By apparently agreeing to meet Trump 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) away from Pyongyang, Kim has to travel
a significant distance out of his comfort zone, said Graham Ong-Webb, a research fellow at the S
Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Since Kim took over as leader, he has rarely left his isolated nation and has only
officially ventured away from home this year, with two visits to China, most recently travelling to the northeastern port city of Dalian
where he met Xi Jinping.He also stepped across the border into South Korea during a historic meeting with President Moon Jae-in in April,
making him the first Northern leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War ceasefire in 1953
Remarkable images of the two leaders greeting each other warmly over the Military Demarcation Line that splits their countries, rich with
symbolism and high political theatre, were broadcast around the world.Trump had previously suggested that the demilitarised zone between the
two Koreas could be a venue for his meeting with Kim, before ruling it out on Wednesday.Nearby Mongolia was also ruled out as a possible
neutral third-country venue, reportedly for security reasons.But for Trump and Kim, Singapore is a convenient venue precisely because it
"doesn't have the historical or political baggage," said Sarah Teo, an associate research fellow at RSIS's regional security architecture
programme.Singapore also has a track record for hosting international summits. In 2015, the city-state played host to a historic meeting
between China's president Xi and then Taiwanese president Ma Ying Jeou. It hosts the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, a defence forum regularly
attended by heads of state, defence ministers and high level military officials. Now that the venue and date have been chosen, it only
remains to be seen if Singapore will play host to a meeting that truly builds on hopes for the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula
and a formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
