Kim Jong-un arrived Changi Airport by China Boeing 747 commercial flight on Sunday 10th June and suddenly made city tour to Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore on Monday morning
Monday, June 11, 2018
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives at the Changi International Airport on Sunday. Photo: AP |
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| North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un visits The Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su |
VietPress USA (June 11, 2018): US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have both arrived in Singapore ahead of a historic summit, but their methods of air travel have differed markedly.
Mr Trump arrived late Sunday night (Australian time) in his hugely expensive Air Force One.
Many had expected Mr Kim to fly on his own Soviet-era Ilyushin-62M private jet.
Instead, Mr Kim stepped off an Air China Boeing 747 – a commercial flight – several hours before the US President arrived, sparking frenzied speculation in the media.
Only hours before, Air China had announced it would resume regular flights to Pyongyang.
Singapore’s minister for foreign affairs Vivian Balakrishnan greeted Mr Kim after he touched down in the island nation.
A large limousine with a North Korean flag could then be seen surrounded by other black vehicles with tinted windows as it sped through the city’s streets to the St Regis Hotel, where China’s President Xi Jinping once stayed.
Read the news from Reuters at: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-usa-kim/north-koreas-kim-visits-singapores-sky-bar-gardens-in-surprise-evening-tour-idUSKBN1J71XO
VietPress USA News
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| Kim Jong-un shaked hand to Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong at the presidential palace on Sunday, June 10, 2018 |
North Korea's Kim visits Singapore's sky bar, gardens in surprise evening tour
John Geddie, Dewey Sim
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went on an evening tour of Singapore on Monday, posing with city-state officials at a tropical garden before visiting an infinity pool atop a landmark waterfront hotel, to the surprise of guests.
Kim arrived in Singapore on Sunday for a historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and missiles in exchange for economic incentives and security guarantees.
The young North Korean leader is staying under heavy guard at a city centre hotel and had not appeared in public on Monday until about 9 p.m., when one of his security officials buzzing about the hotel lobby shouted “It’s all ready!”
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| North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un visits The Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su |
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un visits The Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Reuters staff around the city tracked his motorcade, which included bus loads of security personnel and aides, escorted by dozens of Singapore police officers on motorbikes.
His first stop was a park with futuristic, tree-shaped installations, Gardens by the Bay, which also boasts the largest glass greenhouse and tallest indoor waterfall in the world.
He joined Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, who tweeted a selfie with a smiling Kim and Singapore Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, against a backdrop of flowers with the hashtag #Guesswhere.
Kim thanked the Singapore officials for showing him around so late at night, the North’s state news agency said on Tuesday.
Kim then stopped at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which resembles a giant surfboard perched on three tall columns, for a look out over the bright city lights from its rooftop garden and infinity swimming pool.
Singapore was “clean and beautiful”, Kim said on the observation deck, adding that he aimed to learn from the knowledge and experience of the southeast Asian nation, as he found it impressive, the official KCNA news agency added.
On the way back to his hotel, Kim walked along a promenade near the Merlion, a giant statue, and fountain, of a mythical creature, half lion, half fish - Singapore’s unofficial mascot.Surprised guests enjoying the relative cool of the tropical evening took pictures of a waving Kim with their cameraphones.
Kim’s trip to Singapore is his furthest journey he has made since taking power in late 2011 upon his father’s death.
He has made two trips to China since March to meet President Xi Jinping, and held summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April and May in the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas.
His excursion out of the hotel caused a big stir with guests who were told to get behind a barricade while dozens of North Korean security men and Singapore police officers and government officials blocked off the lobby.
“Oh my God, is Kim Jong Un coming?” shouted one guest, shortly before he appeared to set off for his evening jaunt.
Reporting by John Geddie, Grace Lee, Dewey Sim, Soyoung Kim and Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez
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