Singapore is the United States’ top choice for its upcoming summit with North Korea as it can “best draw the attention of the entire world”, according to a South Korean daily newspaper.

A source told the newspaper that countries such as Switzerland and Sweden were excluded as it would be hard for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to fly there non-stop in a North Korean plane, saying: “The United States and North Korea are holding final negotiations to choose between Singapore and Mongolia.”

Dr Graham Ong-Webb, an S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies research fellow, told The Straits Times Singapore would be an ideal host “because of our position as a safe and secure country holding balanced relations with all other countries, not taking sides on external issues and, where needed, serving as an honest broker to facilitate dialogue between parties so that they can work their problems out”.

He cited how Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou flew to Singapore for their first meeting in 2015.

Click here to view the full article