I would actually say that it worked out for both of us far better than anybody could have expected. Translator we haa historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind. Chairman kim and i just signed a joint statement in which he reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We also agreed to vigorous negotiations to implement the agreement as soon as ssib chairman kim has td me that north korea is already destroying a major missile engine testing site. That was not in your agreement, i got that after the signed the agreement. I had do me a favor. Youve got this missile engine testing site. We know where it is because of the heat. Its incredible the equipment we have, to be honest with you. I said can you close it up. Hes going to close it up. Today is the beginning of an arduous process. Our eyes are wide open, but peace is always worth the effort. The menace of Nuclear Weapons will now be removed. In the meantime, the sanctions will remain in effect. Can you be specific about what assurances you are willing to give to kim un . Doest include reducing military capabilities. We are not reducing anything. We have right now 32,000 soldiers in south korea and id like to be able to bring them back home but thats not part of the equation right at some point i hope it will be, but not right now. We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money. This joint statement does not talk about verifiable or irreversible denuclearization. Is that a concession . Not at all. If you look at it, it said we are going to lets see here. It will be gone. I dont think you can be re plain. It will be verified. Well be verifying. How is that going to be achieved, mr. President . By having a lot of people there. The horrible record that they have on human rights, was that discussed all . Ishat something that you will tackle in the future . Yes, it was discussed. It will be discussed more in the future, human rights. What was also discussed in great detail, john, was the fact that they want the remains of their sons back. They want the remains of their fathers and mothers and all of the people that got caught into that really brutal war, which took place to a large extent in north korea. I asked for it today and we got it. That was a very lastminute, the remains will be coming back. The going to start that process immediately. Did you touch on the issue of peace treaty . Yeah. And also will you travel to pyongyang any time soon . At a certain time i will. That will be a day i very much look forward to at the appropriate time. I also will be inviting chairman kim at the appropriate time to the white house. Wha is the immediate next step . Is there some ongoing dialogue . Yes. Were getting together next week to go into the details. Secretary pompeo yeah, next week with john bolton and our entire team to go over the details and to get this stuff done. How do you ensure that north korea is not all talk, no action . Well, i think can you ensure anything . Over my lifetime, ive done a lot of deals with a lot of ople. Sometimes the people that you most distrust turn out to be the most honorable ones and the people that you do trust, they are not the honorable ones. Americans woke up to historic images this morning. The president of the United States and the leader of north korea in front of flags of both nations shaking hand something that never happenedbefore. Why . President trump and kim jongun sat down signing an agreement the two sides worked out. The two nations agreed to establish better relations, build a lasting and stable peace, reaffirm the declaration made after kim and south korean president moon jaeinade in april and the most significant thing, the north agreed to hand over the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action from the korean war. Reaction poured in from the region following the summit. In tokyo this morning, japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe said he welcomed kims commitment to denuclearize the kn peninsula. In beijing, the minister of Foreign Affairs called on the United Nations to suspend sanctions against north korea and the perhaps with the most at stake, south korean president , moon jaein, watched coverage with his cabinet telling reporters he hardly sle slept the night before the historic moment. Just a short time ago kim jongun began his trip to the airport, having accomplished what his father and grandfather never could, meeting with the sitting u. S. President. So for kim jongun, clearly a massive win. President trump boarded air force one to returnhome. But before leaving, he was surprisingly candid about just how tentative the whole situation remains. You trust him . I do trust him, yeah. Now, will i come byou in a year and youll be interviewing and i say, gee, i made a mistake. Thats always possible. Were dealing at a very high level. A lot of things can change. A lot of things are possible. He trusts me and i trust him. Now i want to bring in nbc chief global correspondent bill neely live in singapore and director of Asian Security at the asia society, lindsay ford. Bill, to you first. We are looking at these historic sittingether. Se twoeaders a lot of people have already said to me this morning take a breath, give credit where credit is due. These two men are sitting down. But give us a history lesson. Was President Trump able to get a meeting that no previous president was able to get . Or was he willing to take a meeting that no previous president would consider taking with an autocratic leader, a massive human rights violator . I think back to 2007 when president obama said he would be willing to meet with the north Korean Leader and he was blasted from democrats, from republicans. Sean hannity said this shows what poor Foreign Policy experience obama has. Fast forward to 2018 and sean hannity is saying this is extraordinary that trump achieved this, and were saying look at this amazing thing that he did that no one else could. Is it no one else could or no one else would . Reporter yeah, stephanie, you know, its Glass Half Full or glass half empty. But youre right, the Inconvenient Truth for President Trump is that the North Koreans have wanted to sit down with a u. S. President for decades. You know, the Propaganda Machine might spit out nasty words and they might launch missiles, but what they have always wanted was respect and recognition and really its party time in pyongyang, because thats exactly what the elite has got, respect as an equal nation. Look at the choreography, look at those flags, six north korean, six american, same number of officials on each side. They have been respected as an equal nation. And kim, well, he is not pariahed now but partnered and showered with praise by an american president to an almost embarrassing degree. Compare what President Trump said about kim jongun to what he just said about justin trudeau. It is pretty amazing. But you know, again, to be fair president , what h got is a historic summit and surely we are in a different place, at least if not a better place than we were last year with fire and fury, stephanie. Without a doubt. Think about this, last year, fire and fury, talk of the little button. Imagine how so many people on the peninsula felt. Lindsay, secretary pompeo talked all about verification, verification, verification. His press conference monday, you know, wasllbout this v. Yet in the document that ive seen, is verification anywhere . No. It magically disappeared, unfortunately. So were going to take kim jonguns word for it when we know in the past north korea has agreed to these identical terms and then reneged . Yeah. You know, the concern for me with the statement, i think there were a lot of assumptions going into this that wed probably have something that was light on details. I think its lighter on details than even we anticipated or hoped. And the question now is what have you what kind of process have you set up f mike pompeo . And thats the concern that i have. The president is actually sort of leaving mike pompeo with a pretty weak hand to play as he goes into really critical negotiations to see if you can now produce a more meaningful substantive agreement, because he sort of set the table in a really weak way where north korea doesnt really seem to have committed to anything beyond probably what their opening bargaining position was here. But thats President Trumps jam. Whether youre talking health care or tax reform, he always says im the guy who closes the deal and my boys work out the details. So i want to share what he specifically said about what wasnt in the agreement, because he leaves that to pompeo. Kim jongun for a complete verifiable irreversible denuclearization and can you say why you didnt secure those details in this agreement . Because theres no time. Im here one day. Were together for many hours intensively, but the process is now going to take place. He could staylonger, lindsay. Yeah. You know, i mean its funny, its not. This is why in diplomacy you start with the experts at the beginning. Its why you actually wait until you have an agreement in hand to send the president out, but he insisted on this very abbreviated process where he was going to fly in and he was going to be the one who could really do something that nobody else could. And again, at the end of the day, its just not so. Theres no substitute for hard work in these situations. Well, President Trump would say, or i shouldnt put words in mouth, but if you look at him over the last 24 hours, its been all about reading the room, reading kim jongun and making him feel good, leaning over, complimenting him, smiling and really build him up. Does it seem like President Trump is relying on creating this personal relationship with kim jongun that will get him over the top . That is something no one else has done before. While criticize it, it just might work on a super ego monster like kim jongun. And i dont mean monster, i mean hes an ego guy. Bill. Reporter yeah, President Trump does rely a lot on personal relationships and this might be a foundation from almost nothing. Remember, there is no trust whatsoever between these two countries, so it might just build. But i mean i was reminded of george bush jr. Saying i looked into putins eyes and i saw his. You know, this could come back to haunt President Trump saying i trust him. Again, you might say politically, remembe george bush sr. When he said read my lips, no new taxes. These things politically can come back to haunt people. And if in two years time there is nothing from this deal so far, people will say, all right, so you thought the iran deal was the worst thing that had ever been negotiated, just tell us what is being achieved by this north korea deal, mr. President. So it is a huge personal risk. Well, its a huge Political Risk for President Trump. And personal relationships only go so far. Ask justin trudeau. Ask president moon, who said he didnt get a good nights sleep last night. There is every indication, stephanie, that south korea knew nothing about the cancellation of military exercises in august, because both the military and the presidency have put out statements basical saying what . You know, we need to check this out. So it may well be that president moon wasnt even consulted by his great friend, President Trump. Victor cha did say south korea was unaware of this and theyre obviously left very vulnerable. Bill, lindsay, thank you. I just want to button that up. To the point bill made earlier, remember that one meeting that President Trump had with president obama, obama said the number one concern, the most atrisk situation is north korea. It wasnt long ago we were in a very tense situation and now at best you have these two guys shaking hands and smiling, so while there might not be huge progress, that remains to be seen, at least it definitely feels like the tension has been turned down. Next, kim jongun has killed his own family members. Starved countless koreans and brutalized his own people in labor camps. Were going to look at this leadere leader that our presiden is calling very strong. Maybe its a savvy negotiating tactic, but we need to remind you just who this man is. He is not the peer of an american president. Plus, what would it take to clear north korea of its Nuclear Weapons. We are going to explain how complicated it could be. You dont just throw it in a dumpster and the remnants could end up in the state of tennessee. So im not happy unless my hands are dirty. Between running a business and four kids, were busy. Auto insurance, homeowners insurance, Life Insurance policies. Knowing that usaa will always have my back. Thats just one less thing you have to worry about. I couldnt imagine going anywhere else. Theyre like a friend of the family. We are the cochran family, and well be usaa members for life. Save bbundling usaa home and auto insurance. Gee today. His people, you see the fervor, they have a great fervor, theyre going to put it together and i think theyre going to end up with a very strong country and a country which has people, that theyre so hard working do you know why theyre so hard working . Theyre in prison camps. That was President Trump talking about the north Korean Peoples love for kim jongun. So lets take a look at the life under the kim dynasty. North Korean Society is split into three categories according to human rights groups. Loyal, wavering and hostile. A citizens category is arbitrary but determines everything about that persons life. Educational opportunities, employment, marriage, even travel and food rationing. There are 51 subcategories to determine the exact mix of privileges and opportunities. A persons class is largely dependent on the actions of their family. From second cousins to grandparents, its incredibly ha move up, but it is very easy to fall. The top class, loyal, is the best off. Descendants of those who fought the japanese clone juary authority during world war ii and the families of soldiers who fought and died in the korean war. They largely live in pyongyang and run the military and government. They get imported food. Many go to western universities. Life is good for this group. Next, wavering. Anyone related to those with low level involvement during the japanese colonial period. They have a secondtier education and work as lowlevel technicians. Their lives are closely monitored by state surveillance. And at the bottom, hostile. Anyone whose grandparents served in the japanese colonial government, lived in south korea before 1953 or are seen as disloyal to the party. During famine this group would be the first to starve. Thats right, starve. And yocould be wavering or even loyal. But if your brother, sister, son or cousin tries to defect to the south, you will get sent to a political prison camp. The hostile class is forced to live and work in mountainous regions, farming land that barely supports crops or mining, always under fear of being disappeared by the government. Many end up in political prisons where they suffer rape, torture, starvation, beatings, and summary execution, according to a u. N. Report. They work in forced labor but by no means free. Many times a person doesnt even know what group the government classifies them under. Their loyalty to the state is examined every time they come to government attention, applying for work, travel, even within the country or marriage. And fortunes can change in an instant. So earlier when i corrected myself, when i said in a flippant way that hes a monster, that was a mistake. He is. Joining me now, former ambassador to the united bill richardson. Ambassador, you have gone to north korea several times and negotiated prisoner releases. Right now there are more than 100,000 North Koreans being held as political prisoners. Give us a look into these labor camps, because for those of us who dont know, who listen to the president and the picture hes painting about these North Koreans and their loyalty to kim jongun and how happy theyll be at the end of this, tell us what their lives look like. Well, ive been to north korea eight times, and i have to admit that whenever i go, im closely watched and not given much access. But ive been to the rural areas. I know about some of these very bad reports about human conditions. There are prison camps. Many of the american prisoners that weve been able to get out and others have been in these prison camps and labor camps. A lot it, though, is because of the extreme poverty in north korea. Its one of the poorest nations if not the poorest on earth, especially in the rural areas. Pyongyang has mainly the military, the intelligence people, thos that work for the vernment. Their food is rationed they have minimal salaries, but they survive. I think the first step, stephanie, is full unfettered access by the United Nations into north korea to document some of these abuses, some of the prison conditions. Secondly, allowing groups like amnesty international, human rights watch, to really look at the statistical situation regarding human rights. I think those reports that weve gotten have been from defectors, theyre not direct human rights investigations by the u. N. Because north korea doesnt allow access to anybody of types. So i think this is very important, that if we are going to have, for instance, investments in north korea, economic assistance, that that assistance like the congress has mandated be contingent on human rights, be contingent on proper treatment of individuals and absence of torture, ways that we condition our assistance to countries around the world, otherwise the encouraging part is the president did say that kim jongun wanted to change things. Well, you know, theres got to be pressure on that. You know, im disturbed that we didnt talk about human rights more. The president kind of glanced at it and said, well, we talked about it but very briefly. We mainly were talking about denuclearization. North