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(Bloomberg) -- Kim Jong Un arrived in Singapore on Sunday, kicking off a landmark trip by the once-reclusive North Korean leader ahead of his historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim -- the first North Korean leader to visit the city-state -- was greeted at Changi Airport by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan before traveling to his hotel, the St. Regis. Crowds lined the streets to snap pictures of Kim’s police motorcade. Kim was expected to meet later with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, before Trump’s own arrival later this evening.
The trip to Singapore -- almost 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) south of Pyongyang -- represents Kim’s farthest foray from home since taking power after his father’s death in 2011. The city-state of 5.5 million serves as neutral turf for both sides, since it has security partnerships with the U.S., a North Korean embassy and strong ties with China.
Trump and Kim are due to meet face to face at 9 a.m. Tuesday for the first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Trump intends to briefly meet Kim one-on-one at the beginning of the meeting, according to a U.S. official familiar with their plans.
Trump is gambling that the direct exchange can overcome decades of distrust between the two Korean War sides and convince Kim to give up his nuclear arsenal. Merely securing a meeting with an American president -- a long-time North Korean demand -- helps give him new status as a world leader.
Trump said Saturday that he thought he would know “within the first minute” if Kim was serious about giving up his nuclear arsenal and whether “something positive will happen.” The plan is to wrap up the meeting in the evening and, if things go well, for the leaders to agree to a joint declaration, according to another U.S. official.
After making no foreign trips for more than six years, the North Korean leader has visited China twice and met South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on the southern side of their militarized border.