Historical summit finalized for June 12 at 10 am at Singapore’s Capella Hotel

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold their first ever summit in Singapore on June 12, at 9 a.m. (local time), according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. During a news briefing on June 4, Sanders announced that the US “advance team” was on the ground in Singapore and “finalizing preparations” for the summit.

Sanders tweets confirmation of location, date and time

The historic first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be taking place at 10 am South Korea time on June 12 at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

“The venue for the Singapore summit between @POTUS and Leader Kim Jong Un will be the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island,” White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted on June 5.

“We thank our great Singaporean hosts for their hospitality,” she added.

Trump posted his own brief Twitter message the same morning.

“Meeting in Singapore with North Korea will hopefully be the start of something big...we will soon see!” he wrote.

In a regular briefing the day before, Huckabee Sanders said, “The schedule tentatively for that first meeting [between Trump and Kim] will be on June 12 at 9 am Singapore time.”

The Capella hotel was previously used by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin and other US delegation members conducting working-level protocol talks with North Korea. In its official gazette, the Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs designated all of Sentosa Island, as well as the bridge connecting it to the mainland and its surrounding area, as a “special event area” from June 10 to 14 in addition to the Tanglin area where the Shangri-La Hotel is located.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers reporters’ questions at the White House.

Sentosa Island area likely selected for security purposes

The separate designation of the Capella and neighboring Universal Studios Singapore as “special zones” will mean stricter security rules, including police inspections and searches.

A mainland-connected island measuring 4.71 square kilometers off of Singapore’s coast, Sentosa Island had been mentioned as a likely candidate venue for the summit due to the ability to effectively seal off access by blocking cable cars, monorails, and a 700-meter bridge linking it to Singapore proper.

The biggest focus of attention in terms of the practical staging of the meeting concerns the two leaders’ itineraries. Prior to the North Korea-US summit, Trump is scheduled to attend the G7 Summit in Canada on June 8–9. If he travels directly to Singapore after that meeting, he is expected to arrive late at night on June 10. With the summit’s start time set at 9 am on June 12, Kim appears likely to arrive in Singapore by June 11 at the latest. A journey from Pyongyang to Singapore by airplane takes six to seven hours, and Kim has no reason to rush by taking his first long-distance flight late at night.

Singapore’s local Straits Times newspaper reported on June 5 that a media center had been set up in Marina Bay’s Formula 1 Pit Building to relay the “event of the century” around the world. According to the newspaper, efforts are under way to allow the accommodation of reporters from around the world – with over 3,000 anticipated – within the building. Measuring 23,000 square meters in total floor area, the building is equipped with a briefing room, restaurant, and media lounge for reporters covering the F1, the world’s biggest auto racing event.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent, and Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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