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Unprecedented security measures likely to surround Kim at summit

Unprecedented security measures likely to surround Kim at summit

Kim Jong-Un

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Security for Kim Jong Un at his first meeting with Trump is expected to be ultra-tight, with measures likely surpassing those seen at the April 27 inter-Korean summit, experts and analysts say

Denuclearization of North Korea is the headline topic at Tuesday's summit between Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, but for North Korean officials travelling to Singapore, their top priority is much narrower: protecting their leader.

Security for Kim Jong Un at his first meeting with Trump is expected to be ultra-tight, with measures likely surpassing those seen at the April 27 inter-Korean summit, experts and analysts say.

In late April, 12 lanky male bodyguards made international headlines after they surrounded Kim Jong Un's Mercedes-Benz vehicle and jogged alongside it whenever the North Korean leader moved across the border.

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April's display may have been more a show for live television. Now North Korean officials will almost certainly emphasise preventing any sudden mishaps in Kim Jong Un's first visit to a foreign country other than China or South Korea since taking power, said Kim Doo-hyun, professor of protection politics at Korea National Sport University.

"As the venue and time of the summit have already been announced, security for Kim Jong Un will be tighter than for any other VIPs," said the professor, who was the first academic to establish a university major in South Korea on guarding and protection. "I think we can presume that North Korea made more demands to Singapore than the United States did in terms of security."

He added in addition to using bulletproof vehicles, North Korea's security detail would likely deploy layers of protection surrounding the summit venue and try to divert attention from Kim Jong Un's car whenever he moves.

"We'll most likely see an unprecedented scale of protection on land, sea and air as this summit is the biggest issue in the world right now," said Chae Kyou-chir, chief executive of Top Guard, a prominent South Korean security and protection firm.

"Kim Jong Un is revered as a god-like being in his country, while outside the North, he's been subject to hostility because of the way his regime is run, and that's enough to always cause safety concerns for his officials," said Chae.

The North Korean leader is also likely to be served food prepared by a travelling chef from the North, Chae added.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday any agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at next week's summit would be "spur of the moment," underscoring the uncertain outcome of what he called a "mission of peace."

"I have a clear objective, but I have to say - it's going to be something that will always be spur of the moment," Trump told reporters at a news conference at the G7 summit in Quebec. "You don't know. This has not been done before at this level."

Trump said it would probably take time to reach an agreement with Kim on denuclearization, but at a minimum he believed the summit could produce a "relationship" between the United States and North Korea, which do not have diplomatic ties.