As a large portion of the world knows by now, US President Donald J. Trump and South Korean President Kim Jong-Un are set to meet in Singapore on June 12th for a summit on North Korean denuclearization. Kim has pledged that he will give up all further nuclear aspirations — while keeping his current small arsenal of nukes — in exchange for a promise by Trump not to seek regime change in North Korea.
But what’s really interesting here, beyond the obviously very cool tamping down of US-North Korea hostilities, is that the meeting will be held in Singapore. Why, you may ask, is that interesting?
The answer is, because Singapore is a small island nation. It’s located in Southeast Asia, just due South of Malaysia, and about 3,000 miles from North Korea. It’s also, in essence, a wealthy police state, with a modicum of democratic freedoms but still a largely benevolent authoritarian regime.
Benevolent, that is, if you’re one of the 75% of the island’s residents that are ethnic Chinese. If you’re part of the other ¼ of the country that’s either Indian or Malay, it’s a little less benevolent, and you’re life is a little tougher.
The other thing is, like I just mentioned, it’s an island. It’s approximately 50 square miles, and it’s located in the Andaman Sea.
But for America’s purposes, the most important thing is that the US Navy and Air Force can control the sea lanes and airspace above Singapore and its territorial waters. They can cordon off the tiny island and essentially turn it into a no-go-zone, in essence an extension of US territory.
The Singaporean government under Halimah Yacob, the first Malay elected President since 1974, is closely allied with the US, so they undoubtedly readily agreed to host the summit.
For Singapore, this is an opportunity to bolster its prestige around the world, and to stake a claim as a major player in international diplomacy.
Just as Camp David, Versaille and Dayton represent the peace forged between Israel and Egypt, Germany and the Allies in World War I, and the Bosnian peace accord, respectively, so Singapore hopes to etch its name in the history books as the site where the two nations closest to creating the world’s great conflagration forged a lasting peace that prevented nuclear war.
Will the summit succeed? That question remains to be answered.
But we know two things for sure. One, it will be the most safe, secure summit possible, guarded by the might of the US military.
And two, when it’s done, the whole world will know Singapore’s name.
