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[NK-US Summit] NK media expresses Pyeongyang’s will to ‘build new NK-US relationship’
Jun 11,2018
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un (left) and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pose for a photo on June 10 at the Istana Presidential Palace in Singapore.
By Yoon Sojung
Photos = Yonhap News
One day before the “nuclear talks of the century” between North Korea and the U.S., North Korean official media outlets reported on June 11 about Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un’s visit to Singapore.
North Korean media highlighted Pyeongyang’s willingness to “establish a new North Korea-U.S. relationship.”
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea dubbed the summit as the “first historic summit meeting between North Korea and the U.S.”
These voice pieces said, “Dear Leader Kim Jong Un departed Pyeongyang on a private airplane from China the morning of June 10 to visit Singapore for the summit meeting with the U.S. leader. He will have the first historic summit meeting with U.S. President Donald J. Trump on June 12 in Singapore.”
They also said that, “The official attendants accompanying his visit are Kim Yong Chol and Ri Su Yong, vice-chairmen of the Party Central Committee and Minister of People's Armed Forces No Kwang-chol.”
The media said, “In the first historic North Korea-U.S. summit, which will take place amid the highest interest and expectation around the globe, the participants will have in-depth discussions about common issues of interest to build a new Pyeongyang-Washington relationship to meet the needs of the times, to build a permanent and steadfast regime of peace on the Korean Peninsula, and to realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.”
The KCNA also reported about the meeting between North Korean leader Kim and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the same day.
In the meeting, Chairman Kim expressed his deep gratitude to the Singaporean government for its cordial cooperation on providing all conditions and conveniences for North Korea to prepare for the historic North Korea-U.S. summit, said the KCNA.
The Singaporean leader expressed his expectations by saying that, “This summit will become an important turning point to accomplish peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un is welcomed by Singaporean officials upon his arrival at Changi Airport in Singapore on June 10 for the North Korea-U.S. summit.
arete@korea.kr