SINGAPORE â After hours of closed-door discussions in a Singapore hotel on Tuesday, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un concluded their historic meeting with the signing of a joint agreement.
The document outlines four points the two leaders agreed upon: establish new U.S.-DPRK relations, build a stable peace regime, a commitment from North Korea to work toward the âcomplete denuclearizationâ of the Korean peninsula, and the repatriation of American POW/MIA remains.
The agreement doesnât appear to contain any firm promises from Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapon program, but rather, opens the door to ongoing discussions. An analyst told HuffPost the agreement doesnât contain much more than North Korea has promised in decades past.
And this isnât the first time in recent months that North Korea has vaguely promised to denuclearize â Kim pledged to do so following his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April as part of the so-called Panmunjom Declaration.
In a lengthy solo press conference later, Trump mentioned other topics the leaders apparently discussed, such as ending U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises.
Trump called the document âvery importantâ and âcomprehensive,â adding that it would be discussed âat great length.â
âI think both sides are going to be very impressed with the result,â he said during the signing ceremony.
Speaking after Trump, Kim said, âToday we had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind. We are about to sign a historic document. The world will see a major change.â
Trump praised Kim as a âworthy negotiatorâ and talented man who âloves his country very much.â Before they parted ways, he promised that the pair would meet many times and, when asked if heâd extend an invitation for his North Korean counterpart to visit the White House, he said: âAbsolutely I will.â
âWe have developed a very special bond,â Trump said. âIt worked out for both of us far better than anybody couldâve expected, far better than even anybody wouldâve even predicted. This is going to lead to more and more and more, and itâs an honor to be with you.â
The president later told reporters during his news conference that he was open to visiting Pyongyang and planned to invite Kim to the White House â both at the âappropriate time.â
Kim left the Capella Hotel just moments after the declaration was signed and ducked questions from reporters about whether he had spoken about giving up any of the Northâs nuclear weapons.
Trump said during the press conference that the two leaders had agreed to engage in âvigorous negotiations to implement the agreement as soon as possible.â When pressed to explain what exactly âcomplete denuclearizationâ means or what it would entail, Trump said only that the process would be done as âfast as can be done scientifically [and] mechanically.â He did not provide a concrete timeframe.
He said the U.S. had agreed to stop playing âwar gamesâ with Pyongyang, referring to the joint military exercises with South Korea that have angered Kim in the past.
Trump added that he wants to âbring our soldiers back homeâ from South Korea, but said it was ânot part of the equation right now.â
The document signed by the two leaders included no language about human rights protections. When asked about this, Trump said human rights had been covered during the meeting and would be discussed âmore in the future.â
Trump told reporters that any denuclearization efforts âwill be verified.â When asked how that would be accomplished, however, he replied that it would be âachieved by having a lot of people there ... combinations of bothâ American officials and international representatives.
Disarmament experts have long said any deal with the North should contain firm commitments about what, exactly, âdenuclearizationâ means and how the country would go about it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo himself on Monday told reporters the âonly outcome the United States will acceptâ was the âcomplete and verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.â
The terms âverifiableâ and âirreversibleâ were not in the document that Kim and Trump signed.
Vipin Narang, a professor of international relations at MIT, said the language in the document echoed statements made by North Korea 25 years ago in a similar joint declaration with the U.S. and appears to contain little more than what the North has already promised in the past. He did note, however, that Kimâs first handshake with Trump shows his nuclear weapons have officially given him legitimacy on the world stage.
âGet nukes and you are taken seriously and get to meet with the president of the United States,â Narang said in an email to HuffPost.
Other analysts noted that despite how Trump may speak about the summit going forward (or any new chatter about a Nobel Peace Prize), the North hasnât yet made a single promise to disarm.
âA summit is inherently asymmetric, because its very existence confers international recognition to the North Koreans,â Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear policy expert at Middlebury Institute of International Studies, wrote on Sunday. âKim Jong Un is desperately looking for international recognition of North Korea as a country in good standing, of his right to rule it, and of the legitimacy of his possession of nuclear weapons. Thatâs why his motorcade had, not one, but two camera-mounted vehicles.â
He continued: âNorth Korean propaganda will be living off this summit for a long time.â
Still, North Korea experts have hailed the outcome as a positive one as it suggests a thaw in decades-long tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.
âIt was not easy to get here,â Kim said before Tuesdayâs talks began. âThe past worked as fetters on our limbs, and the old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward. But we overcame all of them, and we are here today.â
The highly anticipated summit kicked off a few minutes after 9 a.m. local time with the two world leaders meeting at the steps of Capella Hotel.
âNice to meet you, Mr. President,â Kim was overheard telling Trump. It marked the first time in history that a North Korean leader was meeting with a sitting U.S. president.
âWeâre going to have a great discussion,â Trump said shortly after the two shook hands. âItâs my honor, and weâre going to have a terrific relationship.â
The two leaders first met privately with interpreters, and then with members of their respective delegations. They then had a working lunch (prawn cocktail, Korean stuffed cucumber and beef ribs were on the menu) before taking a quick stroll through the hotelâs grounds.
âI think better than anybody couldâve expected,â Trump told reporters at the time, as Kim smiled beside him. âTop of the line, really good.â
At the press conference, Trump acknowledged that there was much more that needed to be done. âIf you donât get the ball over the goal line, it doesnât mean enough,â he said.
This story has been updated with analysis and comments from Trumpâs press conference.