More than 100,000 North Koreans held in gulags are 'winners' of Singapore summit, Donald Trump tells ITV News

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump make history as they sign a document. Credit: AP
  • Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore

The "great winners" of the historic summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will be the more than 100,000 North Koreans imprisoned in labour camps, the US President believes.

Responding to a question from ITV News at a press conference following the summit, in which Washington Correspondent Robert Moore asked Mr Trump if he had "betrayed the North Koreans kept in a network of gulags", the 71-year-old responded: "I think ultimately they're going to be one of the great winners as a group."

He continued: "I think I've helped them, because I think things will change...

"All I can do is do what I can do, we have to stop the nuclearisation, we have to do other things and that's a very important thing, so at certain point, hopefully you'll be able to ask me a much more positive question... but not much I can do right now.

"At a certain point I really believe he's [Mr Kim] going to do things about it.

"I think they are one of the great winners today, that large group of people that you're talking about."

Prior to his press conference, Mr Trump held one-on-one talks with Mr Kim, as well as meeting together with both of their teams.

  • Watch the press conference in full

  • How did the day unfold?

The two leaders kicked off proceedings at the luxury Capella Hotel in Sentosa with a handshake - a momentous moment as no sitting US President has met with a leader of North Korea before.

The pair then held a 40 minute one-on-one meeting, with only two interpreters present, before moving on to another meeting where they were joined by their aides.

After this, both teams had a working lunch together, where they enjoyed foods such as prawn cocktail and avocado salad, green mango kerabu with honey lime dressing, octopus, and dark chocolate tartlets and ice cream.

After lunch the two leaders then took a walk in the hotel grounds before signing a document which committing to the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", which Mr Trump assured gathered reported would start "very quickly".

Mr Kim added that the "world will see a major change" and he and Mr Trump had "decided to leave the past behind".

After this the pair shook hands again, before they both departed earlier than was initially expected as "there was nothing more we could have done", according to Mr Trump.

  • What else was covered in the document?

The document also committed to recovering and repatriating the remains of those killed during the Korean War, and to "building a lasting and stable peace regime" on the Korean peninsula.

It also stated that the US and North Korea would establish a "new relationship".

A joint document added that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a senior North Korean official would hold follow-up talks as soon as possible.

  • Mr Trump hails a "fantastic meeting" after enjoying a post-lunch stroll with Mr Kim

  • What else was discussed?

Following the groundbreaking talks, Mr Trump held a press conference in which he outlined what he had discussed with Mr Kim during Tuesday's talks, adding that the day had gone “better than anybody could imagine” and had allowed the two leaders to develop "a very special bond".

The US President revealed that the North Korean leader had agreed to "destroy" a major missile site, but did not give details on which site this was.

  • Video report by ITV News China correspondent Debi Edward

Mr Trump also said that the "war games" carried out by US troops in South Korea would stop as they were "very provocative" and ending them would save "a tremendous amount of money".

North Korea sees the military exercises as preparation for invasion.

The US President had been under pressure to discuss North Korea's terrible human rights record with Kim Jong-un, but other than stating that the more than 100,000 people imprisoned in labour camps would be "winners", Mr Trump gave little detail on what what discussed, only saying that more conversations would be held in the future.

  • What wasn't discussed?

As well as North Korea's human rights abuses, it is unclear exactly what Mr Trump has promised Mr Kim in terms of security.

Mr Pompeo declined to say whether guarantees might include withdrawing US troops from the Korean Peninsula.

No mention was made of taking steps to end the technical state of warfare between the US and North Korea, following the Korean war in which an armistice, rather than a peace treaty, brought three years of conflict to an end in 1953.

  • The two leaders speak to reporters following their one-on-one meeting

  • What happens now?

Mr Trump predicted that he would meet with Mr Kim "many times in the future", and that North Korea's dictator had accepted his visit to the White House "sometime in the future".

No time frame has been set for North Korea to get rid of its nuclear weapons, and Mr Trump said current sanctions on the country will only end once this has happened.

He added that plans for 300 new sanctions had been halted last week because it would have been "disrespectful" ahead of the meeting.

There is also no timeline for the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea, but Mr Trump said he would like it to happen.

  • The leaders and their teams enjoy a working lunch

  • What brought the meeting about?

The unprecedented meeting seemed unthinkable just months ago, with the US President threatening North Korea with "fire and fury" over its nuclear weapons programme and increasing sanctions on the reclusive state.

In response, Mr Kim called Mr Trump "mentally deranged" and a "dotard".

However, in November 2017, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile which could potentially have travelled far enough to hit Washington.

Fears for the safety of the US may have prompted Mr Trump to seek diplomacy with North Korea.

However, at the beginning of 2018, Mr Kim indicated a thawing of international relations, sending North Korean athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, with the two nations walking into the opening ceremony as a joint team and a shared flag.

Alluding to the past tensions, speaking through an interpreter, Mr Kim said it had not been "easy to get here" but "we overcame all that and we are here now".

Mr Trump also hailed Otto Warmbier, a student who died just days after returning to the US after being detained in North Korea for a year, as bringing tensions between the US and North Korea to the attention of ordinary Americans, and thus contributing to the talks, adding that the 22-year-old "did not die in vain".

  • Following a one-on-one meeting, the two leaders met along with their aides

  • What has the reaction been to the talks?

The reaction to the talks has been mixed, with some hailing Mr Trump for helping to bring about the talks, but others sceptical that Mr Kim will give up his nuclear weapons.

The UK welcomed the "constructive" tone of the summit, but cautioned that "much work" remains to be done to resolve tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK would continue to support the US in its efforts to achieve "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearisation.

North Korea's strongest ally, China, suggested the UN Security Council could consider suspending or lifting sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang is in compliance with UN resolutions and making progress in diplomatic negotiations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing "welcomes and supports" talks between North Korea and the US to reach consensus on denuclearisation and establish a peace mechanism.

Russia was skeptical of Mr Trump's announcement that the process of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula will start "very, very soon", saying it was "more of a wish than a fact".

The chair of the country's Foreign Affairs Committee urged the international community to keep up the pressure on Mr Trump and Mr Kim to ensure that their promises become reality.

Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General was less optimistic about the outcome of the talks, saying that there would be "no lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, until we see real and significant changes in the catastrophic human rights situation for North Korea's people".

Kate Hudson, the General Secretary of the campaign for Nuclear Disarmament hailed the talks as "a very positive development positive development.

"At a time of escalating militarisation and increasingly dangerous policy developments... an outbreak of dialogue in an exceptionally tense region is a welcome step.

"Commentators are eager to say that the summit statement is nothing new, but the key is that it has taken place.

"Just months ago we were looking at the possibility of nuclear war.

"Today the world has pulled back from the brink.

"Only cynics would think that a negligible achievement."

Despite the differing opinions between those watching the summit, there is hope that diplomacy can replace the animosity between the US and North Korea.