Trump and Kim raise summit hopes after days of brinkmanship (Source AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is committed to “complete” denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and to a landmark summit with US President Donald Trump, South Korea’s leader said Sunday, as Trump announced that plans for the meeting are moving along “very nicely”.

The latest conciliatory declarations capped a turbulent few days of diplomatic brinkmanship that had sent tensions soaring. Trump rattled a sabre on Thursday by cancelling the planned June 12 meeting with Kim in Singapore, citing “open hostility” from Pyongyang. But within 24 hours he reversed course, saying it could still go ahead after productive talks were held with North Korean officials. “It’s moving along very nicely,” Trump told reporters when asked for an update. “We’re looking at June 12 in Singapore. That hasn’t changed.” Trump’s unpredictability sparked a surprise meeting on Saturday between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in — only the fourth time leaders from the two countries have ever met — as they scrambled to get the talks back on track. Pictures showed them shaking hands and embracing on the North Korean side of the Demilitarised Zone separating the two nations. Moon said Kim reached out to him to arrange the hasty meeting “without any formality”, a stunning development given that the Koreas only reopened a defunct hotline between the two nations last month.

The North Korean leader described the Singapore summit as a landmark opportunity to end decades of confrontation.

“He… expressed his intention to put an end to the history of war and confrontation through the success of the North-US summit and to cooperate for peace and prosperity,” Moon told reporters on Sunday. Moon added that Kim reaffirmed his commitment to “complete denuclearisation” but was uncertain “whether he could trust that the US would end its hostile policy and guarantee the security of his regime” if he gave up those weapons.

U.S. hits E.U., Canada and Mexico with steel, aluminum tariffs, sparking trade war (Source nbcnews.com)

The Trump administration on Thursday slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, prompting outrage from America’s closest allies and major trading partners and setting off a trade war that could see U.S. consumers pay more for everything from canned soup to cars. The move to implement tariffs under the guise of national security measures triggered strong response across the globe, including a firm reproach from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who denounced the punitive tariffs as “totally unacceptable” and “an affront,” saying that the very idea “Canada could be considered a national security threat to the United States is inconceivable.” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced $12.8 billion in retaliatory tariffs, which she called “the strongest trade action Canada has taken in the post-war era.” Mexico also responded to the taxes, saying it would impose tariffs of its own; and the European Commission promised legal action. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed to reporters in an early-morning phone call that the White House will add a 25 percent import tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum after trade talks crumbled ahead of a June 1 deadline that would have enabled exemptions. Market reaction was also swift: The Dow Jones fell sharply after the move was announced, dropping by 250 points as investors took measure of the impact of the ongoing trade tensions, and falling to 300 points after Canada’s retaliation. The European Commission fired back at the White House’s trade decision with a lawsuit, saying the E.U. “stands now ready to react to the U.S. trade restrictions on steel and aluminum in a swift, firm, proportionate and fully WTO-compatible manner. The E.U. will launch legal proceedings against the U.S. in the WTO on 1 June. The level of tariffs to be applied will reflect the damage caused by the new U.S. trade restrictions on E.U. products.” Mexico’s Ministry of Economy released a statement saying “Mexico deeply regrets and rejects the decision of the United States to impose these tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Mexico as of June 1, under the criterion of national security. Mexico will impose equivalent measures to various products in the face of U.S. protectionist measures.”