Opinion | When Kim meets Trump: compromise holds the key to peace in Korea

Cary Huang says recent summit diplomacy has brought the world closer to a resolution on the North Korean nuclear crisis than ever before. But the final act in Singapore – a historic meeting between a sitting US president and the leader of communist North Korea – may still disappoint

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A screen at a railway station in Seoul shows an image of (from left) South Korean President Moon Jae-in, US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Recent meetings between the leaders of the four major stakeholders in the peace negotiations have revealed a desire for cooperation, but how far does the goodwill extend? Photo: AFP

Published: 3:00pm, 15 May 2018Updated: 8:32pm, 15 May 2018

It took them seven years to have their first face-to-face encounter, but only five weeks for a reunion.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s two visits to China within five weeks, during which he held talks with President Xi Jinping, shows how rapidly things are moving on the diplomatic front as various parties try to forge peace – or at least cool tensions – on the Korean peninsula.

Kim’s two-day trip to the northern Chinese city of Dalian last week facilitated his second encounter with Xi, following his visit to Beijing in late March, which was the 34-year-old leader’s first overseas trip since he came to power in 2011. Kim also held a landmark summit with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in late April.

Yet, this trio of summits are considered warm-up acts for the decisive final act in Singapore next month: a meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump, which would be the first such meeting between a sitting US president and the autocratic leader of America’s long-time communist adversary.

The flurry of summit diplomacy indicated remarkable progress on the resolution of the Korean stand-off, the most confrontational of the lingering hostilities since the end of the second world war.

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