As US and North Korea talked world peace there was just one woman in the room - Donald Trump's translator

US president said talks were going 'very good, very, very good'

As Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un began their talks about world peace, there was just a single woman in the room - the US president’s translator.

While several women were due to take part in a working lunch the two leaders were to hold at the Capella hotel on the Singaporean island of Sentosa, when Mr Trump and Mr Kim completed their 45-minute one-on-one talks and moved to their extended bilateral meeting, Mr Trump’s US State Department translator, Dr Yun-Hyang Lee was the only woman in the room.

According to a pool report, as the two leaders walked to the second floor at the opposite building, they waved their hands and approached the deck for 13 seconds. When Mr Trump was asked about how the meeting was going, he answered: “Very very good!” When Mr Kim was asked about denuclearisation, he just smiled and said nothing.

The participants in the extended bilateral meeting were from the North Korean side Mr Kim, North Korean vice chairman Kim Yong Chol, North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, former foreign minister Ri Su Yong, and the team’s translator. The US team consisted of Mr Trump, national security adviser John Bolton, secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Chief-of-staff John Kelly and Ms Lee.

For the working lunch, due to feature Green mango kerabu with honey lime dressing & fresh octopus and beef short rib confit, served with potato dauphinois and steam broccolini, the US delegation was to be joined by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, US ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kin, and Matthew Pottinger, deputy assistant to the president for Asian affairs.

The North Korean delegation was joined by four additional participants, including two women. They were No Kwang Chol, minister of People’s Armed Forces, Ms Choe Son Hui, vice-minister of foreign affairs, Ms Kim Yo Jong, first deputy director, Central Committee of Workers’ Party of Korea and Han Kwang Sang, director of the Central Committee of Workers’ Party of Korea.

Mr Trump said it was an honour to meet Mr Kim. In addition to shaking hands with him several times, he flashed him a brief thumbs-up.

In turn, Mr Kim said: “There will be challenges ahead.”

He was later heard telling Mr Trump through a translator: “I think the entire world is watching this moment. Many people in the world will think of this as a scene from a fantasy...science fiction movie.”

Asked by a reporter how the meeting was going, Mr Trump said: “Very good. Very, very good. Good relationship.”

Mr Kim also sounded positive about the prospects. According to the Associated Press, he said: “We overcame all kinds of scepticism and speculations about this summit and I believe that this is good for the peace.”