With less than a week before the historic U.S.-DPRK Summit, Singapore – which will host the meeting – has embarked on tightening security .
U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un will meet on 12 June at the Capella Sentosa Hotel.
The meeting will mark the first time leaders of the two countries have met since the Korean war of the 1950s.
Although the confirmation for the summit came at a short notice, observers are confident that Singapore is able to put up good security measures for this historic meeting, as the country “already has existing security infrastructure which is good to go”.
“This means that whatever preparation that we are experiencing right now is going to be very little because all the security resources, security personnel, blueprints for all the different locations across Singapore are already there, all we have to do is just activate those resources,” Graham Ong-Webb, research fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University points out.
In addition to the infrastructure, security experts believe Singapore is also keeping close tabs on the latest security developments.
Lim How Kiat, general manager of security firm Ademco adds that Singapore’s security agencies have close counterparts in the region, which allows for exchange of information.
“Singapore works with security agencies from around the world and around the region, and we are aware of all the latest intelligence required where security is concerned,” Lim tells CGTN.
In preparation for the summit, Singapore police have tightened security measures at various areas where summit activities would be held. These measures include having enhanced powers to search people and vehicles.
The country’s airspace will also be restricted from June 10 to 14. During this period, flight delays might be expected.
However, experts highlight that despite ample preparations, one still needs to be vigilant and ready for the unknown.
“I am sure that the security panels have put a whole range of contingencies in place for whatever may happen, whether it is about undesirable weather, heavy rainstorms that affect visibility and the movement of people, but what we can do is pre-empt the possibilities by putting all the resources in the area, so they can be deployed in a short moment notice if they need to be,” says Ong.
