World leaders hail Trump-Kim summit, call for ‘full denuclearisation’

As US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader concluded their historic Singapore Summit on Tuesday, leaders of different nations have welcomed the summit and saw this as a positive step.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in hailed the outcome of the summit between President Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un as a “historic event” that ended the last Cold War conflict.

“I offer my heartfelt congratulations and welcome the success of the historic North Korea-United States summit”, Moon said in a statement. “The June 12 Sentosa Agreement will be recorded as a historic event that has helped break down the last remaining Cold War legacy on Earth,” he said.

Moon has made great efforts playing the role of mediator to bring the Cold War foes back to dialogue. He praised Trump and Kim for their “courage and determination” not to settle for “that outdated and familiar reality but to take a daring step towards change”. He lionised Trump for achieving “a feat that no one else has ever delivered”, adding Kim would also be remembered as “a leader who made a historic moment by taking the first bold step toward the world”.

“Building upon the agreement reached today, we will take a new path going forward. “Leaving dark days of war and conflict behind, we will write a new chapter of peace and cooperation. We will be there together with North Korea along the way”, he said.

Moon however cautioned that this was “just a beginning and there may be many difficulties ahead”. “But we will never go back to the past again and never give up on this bold journey. History is a record of people who take action and rise to a challenge,” he added.

UN chief says Trump-Kim summit ‘important milestone’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “an important milestone” toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Guterres urged all those concerned to “seize this momentous opportunity” and again offered UN help to achieve the goal of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

EU hails Trump-Kim talks as ‘crucial and necessary step’

The EU today praised the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “crucial and necessary step”, saying it indicated “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula could be achieved.

“This summit was a crucial and necessary step to build upon the positive developments achieved in inter-Korean relations and on the peninsula so far,” the EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

Mogherini stressed that the aim of the international community remained “the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” — a longstanding formulation that implies Pyongyang allowing inspections and not rebuilding any weapons it gives up.

China urges ‘full denuclearisation’ as Kim-Trump meet

China also has praised the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as historic and called for “full denuclearisation” to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The fact that the two leaders “can sit together and have equal talks has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters.

“The crux of the peninsula nuclear issue is a security issue. The most important, difficult part of this security issue is for the United States and North Korea to sit down to find a way to resolution via equal talks,” Wang said. “Resolving the nuclear issue, on the one hand of course is denuclearisation, full denuclearisation.

At the same time, there needs to be a peace mechanism for the peninsula, to resolve North Korea’s reasonable security concerns.” Beijing is Pyongyang’s sole major ally and main trading partner, but it has backed a slew of United Nations sanctions to punish the North over its nuclear and missile tests. Despite tensions, the Cold War-era allies have sought to mend ties recently, and Kim borrowed an Air China plane to travel to the landmark summit in Singapore.

IAEA offers to help verify future US-North Korea deal

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said that it stood ready to help verify any future agreements between the US and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

In a statement, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, welcomed the statement issued by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the end of their summit in Singapore, “which includes the DPRK’s commitment towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”. “The IAEA will closely follow the negotiations to be held between the two countries to implement the outcomes of the US-DPRK Summit,” the statement added.

Japan PM hails Trump-Kim agreement as ‘first step’

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also welcomed a document signed by North Korea’s leader at an unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump as a “first step” towards denuclearisation.

Abe also said he was pleased that the US leader had raised the emotive issue of Japanese abducted by Pyongyang. “Through this US-North Korea summit, Chairman Kim Jong Un’s intent for complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was confirmed in writing,” Abe told reporters. “I support this as a first step to the comprehensive resolution of issues concerning North Korea.”