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Trump to arrive in Singapore around 8pm on Sunday; will meet PM Lee on Monday

SINGAPORE — United States President Donald Trump will arrive at the Paya Lebar Airbase around 8pm on Sunday (June 10), and stay at the Shangri-La Hotel during his visit to Singapore for the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

President Trump boards the Air Force One on Saturday, June 9, in Quebec, Canada, en route to Singapore.

President Trump boards the Air Force One on Saturday, June 9, in Quebec, Canada, en route to Singapore.

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SINGAPORE — United States President Donald Trump will arrive at the Paya Lebar Airbase around 8pm on Sunday (June 10), and stay at the Shangri-La Hotel during his visit to Singapore for the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

He was originally scheduled to arrive at 8.35pm, with his motorcade due to depart the airbase for the hotel between 8.45pm and 9pm on Sunday, according to the White House. But journalists travelling on Air Force One with Mr Trump reported that the plane could land in Singapore around 8pm, meaning the US leader could arrive at the hotel earlier.

Mr Trump is due to meet Mr Kim on Tuesday morning at the Capella Hotel in Sentosa.

Separately, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will meet Mr Trump on Monday. Mr Lee will meet Mr Kim in a separate meeting on Sunday. 

 

 

The ministry did not give detailed timings for the meetings. Mr Kim is also expected to arrive at the Changi Airport on Sunday, though his official travel plans have not been made public.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said there is "growing speculation" that Mr Kim could have left Pyongyang for Singapore on Sunday morning on board a private Boeing 747-4J6 jet. The private jet, said to be used by high-level Chinese officials, flew from Beijing and landed in Pyongyang around 7.20am before later departing for an unspecified destination.

 

 

Reuters reported separately that a cargo plane which had accompanied Mr Kim on his recent visit to China has departed Pyongyang and was likely headed for Singapore on Sunday. Mr Kim has taken only one known overseas trip by air since becoming leader in 2011 and the Ilyushin-76 cargo plane accompanied his personal Ilyushin-62M jet to Dalian in China in May.

Shangri-La Hotel and the St Regis Hotel have been earmarked for heightened security and additional traffic control measures during the summit period. The police have warned Singaporeans to expect some traffic disruptions around the summit event venues from this weekend to Thursday (June 14).

Mr Trump, who is travelling onboard Air Force One from Canada to Singapore, wrote on Twitter on Sunday morning that he was looking forward to meeting Mr Kim and "have a feeling that this one-time opportunity will not be wasted".

"I am on my way to Singapore where we have a chance to achieve a truly wonderful result for North Korea and the World. It will certainly be an exciting day and I know that Kim Jong-un will work very hard to do something that has rarely been done before...create peace and great prosperity for his land," Mr Trump added.

 

 

Mr Trump intends to meet one-on-one briefly with Mr Kim at the beginning of their summit, a moment the president has said will be a critical gauge of whether a deal is likely, according to a US official familiar with their plans.

Speaking on the sidelines of of the summit of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Canada on Saturday, Mr Trump said he would know within a minute whether Mr Kim was serious about giving up North Korea's nuclear weapons.

"I think within the first minute I’ll know. Just my touch, my feel," Mr Trump told reporters. "And if I think it won't happen - I'm not going to waste my time. I don't want to waste his time."

The main issue for Tuesday's summit is the US demand for North Korea to abandon a nuclear weapons programme that now threatens the United States. AGENCIES

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