Former North Korean military intelligence chief, Kim Yong Chol delivers letter to Donald Trump from Kim Jong-un as Mike Pompeo looks on outside the Oval Office, June 1, 2018. Olivier Douliery / Press Association. All rights reserved.
An unpredictable United States president could still turn everything on its head. But with days to go before Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are due to meet in Singapore, it looks probable that a chequered summit will actually go ahead. Preparations are now in overdrive, with senior United States officials working towards commencement on the resort island of Sentosa at 9am on 12 June.
Along the way, Trump’s people have carefully downgraded their initially inflated expectations, and now see the personal encounter as a mere getting-to-know-you session. But a political dividend is feasible, the White House thinks: a pledge to conclude a formal peace treaty on the Korean peninsula, thus upgrading the 1953 ceasefire which ended the Korean war. Trump could showcase this as a brilliant example of his deal-making skills, in the process justifying renewed talk of a Nobel peace prize. South Korea's government would welcome the outcome as a step towards real progress.
