US, North Korea want a deal from talks; S’pore happy to provide neutral venue: PM Lee

SINGAPORE — As United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un kick off their historic summit at 9am on Tuesday (June 12) to discuss peace and denuclearisation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes that both sides do want to hammer out a deal, and there are ways to achieve it if they are prepared to talk it over.

In an interview with American news channel CNN telecast early Tuesday morning, PM Lee said that after meeting with Mr Kim at the Istana on Sunday evening, his impression was that the man is a "confident, young leader".

"I think he wants to go on to a new path... I think he has an intention to do something, and that is why he is meeting Donald Trump," he noted.

Mr Trump, too, is "hoping for a positive outcome", he added.

"The key thing is he needs to assess whether Mr Kim is serious or not. If he is serious, I think something can be worked out. If it is not worked out immediately, we come back again and at some point, you will be able to reach a consensus or reach some kind of an agreement, if not immediately," Mr Lee said.

He acknowledged that the objectives of the two leaders may not be the same, but if they are serious about wanting "some kind of a deal", it may have to boil down to how they are prepared to give and take, "to put something on the table, to ask for something in return".

"Eventually, you will get something and the other side will get something. And you also have to think about the people who are not at the table but watching anxiously — the Chinese, Japanese and the Russians. Something can be worked out if you really want to come to an outcome.

"If you do not want an outcome, you just want a photo opportunity and then you go home and either you beat your chest and you declare victory on an empty document, or you go home and say the other guy, you cannot do business with him and that is why this path leads to a dead end."

Singapore's role in this summit, PM Lee stressed, is to provide a neutral, safe ground for the event to take place, without interfering in the meeting.

"We are the host, we are the tea and coffee pourers. We do not participate in the summit, we do not have an influence on what is discussed or the outcome, but we hope that by providing a venue which is neutral, which is agreeable to both sides, we enable a productive summit to take place which will turn around the negative trend of events in Korea over the last few months and set Korea on to a new and positive trajectory — for them and for the world."

Responding to a question on Singapore footing the estimated S$20 million bill for the meeting, Mr Lee said that it is providing the security, making arrangements for journalists, and providing hospitality to the North Koreans.

While Singapore's concern is not that it will be targeted by security threats from North Korea as "we are not participants in the Korean tensions", Mr Lee said that tensions would destabilise the region, and that "South-east Asia is not going to be let off scot-free, nor the world".

"I think if this meeting can have a constructive outcome, and we can (contribute) something to that, I think it is a duty we should do."