The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!
[속보]북미정상회담 6월12일 싱가폴서 개최합의(동영상)
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작성자 편집실 작성일18-05-11 10:19 조회2,293회 댓글0건관련링크
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(서울=연합뉴스) 장용훈 기자 = 북한이 사상 첫 북미정상회담의 개최지로 싱가포르를 수용해 그 배경에 관심이 쏠린다.
싱가포르는 트럼프 대통령의 백악관 참모들이 고집해온 곳으로 알려졌다.
이런 정황을 고려하면 일단 북한이 장소는 '양보'한 모양새다. 북한은 안팎의 여러가지 효과를 노려 평양 아니면 판문점을 노려온 것으로 보이나, 결국 미국 뜻을 수용한 셈이다.
사실 싱가포르는 나쁜 카드는 아니라고 할 수 있다. 우선 싱가포르는 아시아 최대 규모의 연례안보회의인 '아시아안보회의'가 매년 열려 국제회의를 개최한 경험도 풍부하고 경호와 안정성, 교통과 이동의 편의성, 취재환경 등을 두루 갖췄기 때문이다.
특히 2015년 시진핑(習近平) 중국 국가주석과 마잉주(馬英九) 당시 대만 총통의 첫 정상회담도 싱가포르에서 열려 적성국간 회담 개최 역사도 가지고 있다.
일단 판문점과 평양에 대해 정치적 부담감을 가질 수밖에 없는 미 행정부로선 회담 개최지로 싱가포르에 매력을 느낄 수밖에 없어 보인다.
그런데도 회담 개최지 선정까지의 과정을 돌이켜 보면 트럼프 대통령은 후보지로 여러 곳을 놓고 고민하는 모습을 보였다.
트럼프 대통령은 트위터에 판문점을 정상회담 개최지로 언급하는 글을 올려 문재인 대통령의 판문점 추천을 고려하는 제스처를 보였고, 상대국인 북한 입장도 생각한 흔적이 역력했다.
'일방적인' 성향의 트럼프 대통령이 문 대통령과 북한의 처지를 고려한 점을 볼 때 북미정상회담에 쏟는 정성의 크기를 알 수 있다는 분석도 있다.
카운터파트인 북한은 다양한 환영행사를 통한 북미 관계 개선 의지를 제대로 전달할 수 있는 평양을 첫 북미정상회담 개최지로 강력하게 희망한 것으로 전해졌다.
북한은 그러나 자신들이 원하는 회담 장소 카드를 버리고 미국측의 제안을 수용했다.
이는 첫 정상회담인 만큼 장소 등 부수적인 문제로 신경전을 벌이기보다 미국 정상과 담판이라는 본게임에 주력하는 쪽을 선택한 것이라는 분석이 나온다. 형식보다는 실리를 중시하는 김정은 북한 국무위원장의 스타일이 반영된 결과라는 관측도 있다.
미국의 제안을 수용함으로써 이번 회담에 임하는 북한의 진정성을 확인시켜주고, 회담 전과 회담 때 북미 양국 간 분위기를 긍정적으로 유도하려는 의도가 담긴 것이라는 얘기다.
북한 조선중앙TV가 10일 김 위원장과 마이크 폼페이오 국무장관의 면담 소식을 전하면서 "최고 영도자(김정은) 동지께서는 트럼프 대통령의 구두 메시지를 전해 들으시고 대통령이 새로운 대안을 가지고 대화를 통한 문제 해결에 깊은 관심을 가지고 있는 데 대해서와 조미(북미) 수뇌상봉에 대한 적극적인 태도를 취하고 있는 데 대하여 높이 평가하시고 사의를 표하셨다"고 전한 것도 이런 맥락에서 읽힌다.
트럼프 대통령을 추어올리고 우호적인 회담 분위기를 조성하려는 북한의 의도가 회담 장소 선정에서도 미국 측 의견 존중으로 선회했을 가능성이 크다.
여기에다 북한과 물리적 거리가 있기는 하지만 싱가포르가 북한의 지도부와 정서적 유대를 가지고 있다는 점에서 꼭 불리한 장소만은 아니라는 판단을 했을 수 있다.
실제 싱가포르의 'OCN'과 'T스페셜리스트' 등 2개의 업체는 북한에 지도층이 사용하는 것으로 보이는 사치품을 공급했다가 유엔의 대북제재 위반 판정을 받기도 했다.
2011년 2월에는 김정은 위원장의 형인 김정철이 싱가포르에서 열린 에릭 클랩턴의 공연장을 찾았다가 한국 취재진의 카메라에 포착되기도 했다.
한 고위층 출신 탈북민은 "싱가포르는 김정일 국방위원장의 동생인 김경희나 그의 남편 장성택, 김정은 위원장의 형인 김정철 등 북한의 로열패밀리들이 자주 드나드는 곳"이라며 "싱가포르와 외교관계가 좋고 안전이나 쇼핑 등에 유리하다는 점이 고려된 것으로 안다"고 말했다.
실제 북한과 싱가포르와 외교관계는 한국과 관계보다 늘 한발 빠르게 진행됐다. 북한은 1968년 싱가포르에 통상대표부를 설치한 뒤 1969년 총영사관으로 승격시켰고 1975년 상주공관을 개설했다.
남한은 북한보다 2∼3년 늦은 1970년 통상대표부를 설치한 뒤 1972년과 1975년에 각각 총영사관을 설치했다. 대사관은 북한과 같은 1975년 문을 열었다.
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Trump announces North Korea
summit will be in Singapore
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, the US president announced Thursday on Twitter.
Leading choice
Released prisoners
Trump Greets 3 Ame
rican Detainees Freed From North Korea
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — Three American prisoners freed from North Korea arrived here early Thursday to a personal welcome from President Trump, who traveled to an air base in the middle of the night to meet them.
Waving their hands and flashing peace signs, the freed prisoners — Kim Dong-chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song — descended the stairs of their plane, flanked by the president and senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had flown to Pyongyang, the North’s capital, to secure their release.
Their return to the United States removed a delicate obstacle as the president prepares to sit down with the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, for a landmark nuclear summit meeting. But as Mr. Trump basked in the glow of floodlights and TV cameras, he indicated that the most difficult part of the negotiations, which include persuading North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, still lies ahead.
As he is prone to do when it comes to negotiations with the North, he avoided striking a decisive tone.
“Hopefully everything is going to work out at the highest level,” Mr. Trump said. He then issued a compliment to Mr. Kim: “We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people.”
Mr. Trump, who spent the early part of his week frustrated by news reports about a continuing investigation into his presidential campaign’s ties to Russia and faced with criticism from key European allies for withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, seemed eager to celebrate a foreign policy triumph. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, Mr. Pompeo and the first lady, Melania Trump, were among those who traveled to the base to welcome the three men.
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Subscribe to The Times“We’re starting off on a new footing,” Mr. Trump said of the release. “That was a big thing, very important to me and I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful.”
Hours earlier, Mr. Trump had mused on Twitter about barring the news media from future events because of displeasure over what he perceived to be negative coverage of his administration. But dozens of journalists assembled at the air base early Thursday, training their cameras on Mr. Trump, the freed prisoners and a large American flag that had been strung up on the tarmac.
Asked by reporters about the men’s return, Mr. Trump replied, “The true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons.”
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The arrival of the men in Maryland capped a whirlwind journey for Mr. Pompeo, who secured their release during a 13-hour visit to North Korea to arrange the summit meeting.
The president spent the hours before their arrival in a celebratory mood. He mentioned in a cabinet meeting that “everyone thinks” he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for overseeing the prisoners’ release.
“But I would never say it,” Mr. Trump continued. “The prize I want is victory for the world.”
The president had also posted excitedly on Twitter that he planned to greet the “Hostages (no longer)” upon their arrival. Their plane touched down just before 3 a.m.
In a statement as they traveled to the United States, the prisoners said that they wanted to give their “deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo and the people of the United States for bringing us home.”
“We thank God and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return,” they said.
Mr. Trump, who delivered on a long-held promise this week by ending the United States’ involvement in the Iran nuclear deal, has sought to deliver on another by improving relations with North Korea after nearly seven decades of mutual antagonism.
Analysts are watching the negotiations closely to see if the return of the prisoners is a gesture of genuine good will from the North, or if Mr. Kim will ultimately use the release of the men as leverage for prolonging the time frame for reducing or completely dismantling North Korea’s nuclear abilities.
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Mr. Trump said on Thursday that he would meet Mr. Kim in Singapore, a neutral site, on June 12. President Moon Jae-in of South Korea will visit the White House beforehand, on May 22.
Other administrations, including President Barack Obama’s, secured the release of imprisoned Americans without promising a summit meeting or improved diplomatic relations. Over the past week, Mr. Trump had criticized the Obama administration for failing to secure the release of the three men, who had been held on charges of committing espionage or “hostile acts” against North Korea. Two of them were taken prisoner after Mr. Trump took office.
The three men include Kim Dong-chul, a businessman and naturalized American citizen from the Virginia suburbs of Washington. He had been sentenced to 10 years’ hard labor in April 2016 after being convicted of spying and other offenses.
Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk, was arrested in April 2017 while trying to board a plane to leave the country. He had spent a month teaching accounting at a Christian-funded school, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
Kim Hak-song, who volunteered at the school’s agricultural research farm, was arrested in May 2017. According to CNN, he was born in China near the North Korean border and emigrated to the United States in the 1990s, later returning to China and eventually moving to Pyongyang.
Speaking through a translator, one of the men recounted his time in captivity, describing long days in labor camps but adding that he had received medical treatment when needed.
Shortly after meeting Mr. Trump, the released Americans were transported to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for further evaluation. Maj. Carla M. Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the men had “demonstrated significant emotional and physical resiliency,” and that the most crucial aspect of their recovery would be establishing a routine, focusing on nutrition and keeping “stimuli” to a minimum in the short term.
Their release bears a striking contrast to Otto F. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was returned to American custody in June after spending 17 months in captivity, much of it in a coma, in Pyongyang. He died days later.
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From the tarmac, Mr. Trump acknowledged Mr. Warmbier and his family. “I want to pay my warmest respects to the parents of Otto Warmbier,” the president said, “who was a great young man who really suffered.”
As the president prepared to see the men away, he turned back toward the floodlights.
“I think you probably broke the all-time in history television rating for 3 o’clock in the morning,” Mr. Trump said. Minutes later, he boarded Marine One back to the White House.
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