title: Peter Aerts

text: A three-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, he debuted at the inaugural K-1 World GP in 1993 where he was eliminated by fellow K-1 legend Ernesto Hoost. He won his first Grand Prix in 1994 by knocking out Rob van Esdonk and Patrick Smith in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively, before taking a unanimous decision over Masaaki Satake in the finals. However, he was stopped on more than one occasion by Mike Bernardo, being memorably knocked out of the 1996 K-1 World GP at the quarter-finals, as part of his series of wins over Aerts.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts also won the GP the following year when he beat Toshiyuki Atokawa, Ernesto Hoost and then stopped Jérôme Le Banner in the finals. He would not win the tournament again until 1998 when he stopped all three of his opponents in front of 63,800 spectators at the Tokyo Dome. In what is considered to be one of the best Grands Prix ever, and the pinnacle of Aerts' career, he stopped Masaaki Satake with a knee strike in the quarters, forced the referee to stop his semi-final match with long-time rival Mike Bernardo and knocked out Andy Hug with one of his famous high kicks in the final. He won this tournament in six minutes and forty-three seconds, which was the quickest K-1 GP win ever at the time. This record stood until 2009 when it was beaten by rival Semmy Schilt.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Although 1998 was his last Grand Prix win, Aerts continued to compete and reached the final a further three times (in 2006, 2007 and 2010).


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts was born in Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands on October 25, 1970. After playing football in his childhood for seven years, he began practicing martial arts in 1983, beginning with taekwondo. His interest in combat sports came from his grandfather and an uncle; both were active in that field. In 1984, he started kickboxing and began training in "Judoka-Kickboxing" in Best, with Mikki Benazzouz. After a year of training, Aerts fought his first match, and soon one victory succeeded the other. He won his first world championship title when he was nineteen.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts debuted as a professional kickboxer in 1985. Some notable fights from his early career include a decision loss to Ernesto Hoost (who he would fight a total of six times) on 20 November 1988, and a knockout loss to Andre Mannaart in 1989 while still a teenager. Aerts switched to "The Champs" gym in Eindhoven, with Eddy Smulders, in 1989 where he won his first world title, taking the IKBF World Heavyweight Championship in 1990.


title: Peter Aerts

text: 1991 saw Aerts switch gyms again, this time moving to the famous Chakuriki Gym under Thom Harinck, where he had his greatest successes of his career. He received the moniker "The Dutch Lumberjack" by the trainer of his opponent Mark Russell after he defeated Russell by first-round stoppage in Oranjestad, Aruba on 29 June 1991. Aerts was given his signature sleeveless lumberjack jacket, which he would wear during his ring walk before every match, by his friend Bas Rutten. Coincidentally, Aerts' father was also a lumberjack. On 18 November 1991, Aerts defeated the legendary Frank Lobman via unanimous decision in Rotterdam to win the WMTA World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In 1992, Aerts truly moved onto the world stage. He beat Maurice Smith by decision after nine rounds in Paris, France, on 9 April 1992. Just a month later, on 16 May, he knocked out Adam Watt in the second round in Tokyo, Japan.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He rematched Frank Lobman on 20 September 1992. Aerts emerged the victor once again and retained the WMTA title as Lobman retired in round three. He ended the year with a draw against karate fighter Masaaki Satake in Osaka, Japan, on 4 October 1992.


title: Peter Aerts

text: On January 29, 1993, Aerts defeated Peter Selkthorpe of England by first-round knockout with a knee strike to win the European Muay Thai title in Best, Netherlands. He then rematched Maurice Smith in Amsterdam on March 7, 1993, and knocked him out with a right high kick, a technique that would become Aerts' signature move.


title: Peter Aerts

text: These wins gave Aerts the reputation as a top-level kickboxer and he was invited to take part in the "K-1 Grand Prix '93", an eight-man, one-night tournament made up of the world's best heavyweights and light heavyweights held in Tokyo, Japan. He faced Ernesto Hoost in the quarter-finals, and after a close three rounds, Hoost was named the winner by majority decision (29-28, 30-28, 30-30).


title: Peter Aerts

text: He returned to K-1 on September 4, 1993, against Dino Homsey at "K-1 Illusion" and KO'd the American with a left high kick in round one. Fifteen days later in Amsterdam, Aerts made the first defence of his WMTA World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship against Rob van Esdonk, knocking him out with a right hook less than a minute into round four.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts knocked out Markus Fuckner of Germany on February 20, 1994, in Amsterdam to retain the WMTA Heavyweight Muay Thai title before heading out to Japan to take part in the "K-1 Grand Prix '94" which was held in Tokyo on April 30, 1994. In the quarter-finals, Aerts was drawn against Rob van Esdonk whom he had defeated in the Netherlands six months earlier. Van Esdonk knocked Aerts down in round one but Aerts was able to come back and KO him with a right high kick. In the semis, he faced Patrick Smith, an American with a wild, aggressive style. Aerts was still able to handle him, however, and KO'd him just over one minute into the first round. Progressing into the final, he came up against Masaaki Satake for the second time. Aerts simply landed more powerful and a larger number of strikes on Satake en route to a unanimous decision (27-25, 30-25, 30-29) victory. This made him the 1994 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He returned to the ring on September 12, 1994, at the Night of the Stars tournament in Rotterdam. At the quarter-final stage, he faced Rob van Esdonk for the third time and Lumberjack'd him with the high kick again. He then knocked out Glenn Wijngaart in the semis and went into the final against Frank Lobman, who was thirty-eight at this point and facing Aerts for the third time. Aerts battered Lobman until his corner threw in the towel in round two.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts then made the third defence of his WMTA World Heavyweight Muay Thai title against Ergin Solmaz in Amsterdam on November 12, 1994, before going back to Japan to fight Glen Parker at "K-1 Legend". He knocked Parker out with a knee in round one.


title: Peter Aerts

text: On March 3, 1995, he defeated Kirkwood Walker via right low kick knockout in round three at the "K-1 Grand Prix '95 Opening Battle" which qualified him for the "K-1 Grand Prix '95" on May 4. In the quarter-finals, he dispatched Japanese karateka Toshiyuki Atokawa with ease, knocking him out with punches in the first round. He went up against Ernesto Hoost for the third time in the semis in what was another close fight. After three rounds, the judges called it a draw and so it went to an extra round, after which Aerts took the unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9). In the final, Aerts came up against hard-hitting Frenchman Jérôme Le Banner who had knocked out his two opponents in the run-up to the final. The fight did not last long, as Aerts finished Le Banner with a body shot in round one to become the K-1 World Grand Prix Champion for the second year running.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts then beat Michael Thompson by KO in a superfight at the "K-3 Grand Prix '95" in Nagoya on July 16, 1997 before beating Hubert Numrich by points for the WMTA World Super Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship in Amsterdam on October 28, 1995. He ended the year with a forty-second KO win over Mike Bernardo, the hard hitting South African known for his punching power, at "K-1 Hercules" on December 9, 1995. This would be the first of six meetings between the men from 1995 to 1998, in what became one of the biggest feuds in K-1 history.


title: Peter Aerts

text: On March 10, 1996, Aerts knocked out Jean-Claude Leuyer with a highlight-reel high kick at the "K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle" in Yokohama to qualify for the 1996 K-1 World Grand Prix.


title: Peter Aerts

text: At the "K-1 Grand Prix '96" on May 6, he came up against Mike Bernardo again at the quarter-final stage. Already a dominant name in K-1 and the reigning Grand Prix champion, Aerts was the favorite to win the 1996 tournament and as he had demolished Bernardo just six months earlier, he was expected to do the same this time. It was not to be, however, and after a slow first round, Bernardo turned the fight into a brawl in the second. The referee gave Aerts a count in round two, and in round three Bernardo knocked Aerts out with a right hook. Bernardo had broken Aerts' nineteen-fight winning run, and became the first man to beat him in since Ernesto Hoost in 1993.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts was given the chance to avenge this loss at "K-1 Revenge '96" four months later, on September 1, 1996, when the rubber match was made between the pair. Anticipation was high, but the fight was an anticlimax. In the first round, Aerts caught Bernardo with an inadvertent low blow. When Bernardo was unable to continue, Aerts was disqualified.


title: Peter Aerts

text: This settled nothing of course, and K-1 quickly booked the rematch to the rematch, this time for October 16 and "K-1 Star Wars '96". Aerts knocked Bernardo down in round one and continued to hurt him with low kicks throughout the fight. In round two, the referee gave Aerts a standing eight count but he contested this as he simply stumbled after throwing a kick. By the third round, Aerts had started to take a beating and Bernardo KO'd him with a right hook towards the end of the round. After going undefeated in almost twenty fights over three years, Aerts had now lost three times in-a-row, all to Mike Bernardo.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In 1997, Aerts broke his working relationship with Thom Harinck and the Chakuriki Gym and went to train under former opponent Andre Mannaart at the Mejiro Gym.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He returned to the ring for the first time since his trilogy with Mike Bernardo on March 16, 1997, at "K-1 Kings '97" where he had the first of his four meetings with legendary Swiss Kyokushin fighter Andy Hug. Hug was the 1996 K-1 Grand Prix Champion, but Aerts was able to overwhelm him and forced the referee to stop the match in round one. He then continued to get back on track by TKOing Jean-Claude Leuyer at "K-1 Braves '97" on April 29, 1997, and KOing Jérôme Le Banner at "K-1 Dream '97" on July 20, 1997.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He qualified for the 1997 K-1 GP when he beat James Warring at the "K-1 Grand Prix '97 1st Round" on September 7, 1997. At the beginning of the fight, Warring pretended that he wanted to sportsmanly touch gloves with Aerts and then attempted to sneakily punch him with a right overhand when he got close to him. Aerts was able to dominate the rest of the fight before knocking him cold with a right high kick in round three.


title: Peter Aerts

text: At the "K-1 Grand Prix '97 Final" on November 9, Aerts came up against Mike Bernardo for the fifth time at the first stage. Aerts used his superior speed to pick Bernardo apart with punches before finishing him with a body shot in round three. This brought their rivalry to 2-2, discounting the disqualification. Marching into the semi-finals, he had his second match against Andy Hug. After three hard-fought rounds, Hug was given the nod via unanimous decision (30-29, 30-28, 30-28) and Aerts was eliminated.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts kicked off 1998 with a majority decision victory over Ernesto Hoost, their third fight, at "K-1 Kings '98" on April 9. He then travelled to Zurich, Switzerland to fight Andy Hug for his WKA World Super Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship at "K-1 Fight Night '98" on June 6, 1998. Hug defeated Aerts via unanimous decision after five rounds to retain his title.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He also lost his next fight against the Brazilian "karateka" Francisco Filho at "K-1 Dream '98" on July 18, 1998. Aerts knocked Filho down in round one but the match was stopped by the doctor at the end of the round as Aerts had a large cut on his shin, and Filho was awarded the victory.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He soon returned to form, however, knocking out Sinisa Andrijasevic in round two at the "K-1 World Grand Prix '98 Opening Round" on September 27, 1998, to qualify for the "K-1 Grand Prix '98 Final Round" on December 13. Kickboxing had become a mainstream phenomenon in Japan by this time and the event was attended by more that 60,000 spectators at the Tokyo Dome. Drawn against Masaaki Satake at the quarter-final stage, he wrecked the Japanese fans' favourite with knees from the Thai clinch inside the first round. In the semis, he came up against his old nemesis Mike Bernardo. Knowing that Bernardo is a very religious Christian, Aerts came into the ring with "666" written on his lumberjack shirt. Aerts knocked him down twice in round one and forced the referee to stop the bout, sending him into the final against Andy Hug. This brought an end to their rivalry with an overall tally at 3-2 to Aerts, discounting the DQ. The final between Aerts and Hug lasted just a minute and ten seconds as Aerts knocked him out with a trademark high kick to win his third K-1 World Grand Prix.


title: Peter Aerts

text: This was the fastest tournament win in K-1 history, as he knocked out all of his opponents in the very first round in a record time of 6:43 minutes, until Semmy Schilt won the World Grand Prix in 2009 in 5:54 minutes.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Peter Aerts began 1999 in a rich vein of form, finishing Michael McDonald, Jim Mullen, Matt Skelton, Maurice Smith and Sam Greco, respectively, over the course of five months. At the "K-1 World Grand Prix '99 Opening Round", the qualifying round for the 1999 K-1 WGP, on October 5, 1999, he took a unanimous decision victory over Lloyd van Dams. In the quarter-finals of the "K-1 Grand Prix '99 Final Round" on December 5, 1999, Aerts went up against Jérôme Le Banner for the third time. Just fifteen seconds into the first round, he dropped the big Frenchman with a high kick. Although dazed and clearly hurt, Le Banner was able to make the count and came back to knock Aerts out with a devastating left hook at just over the one minute-mark of round number one, sending the reigning champion crashing out of the tournament.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Following this loss, he returned to the ring against Japanese star Musashi at "K-1 Rising 2000" a little over a month later on January 25, 2000. Aerts won by technical knockout when Musashi's corner stopped the fight at the end of round four. On April 23, 2000, he defeated Ray Sefo via low kick KO in round three at "K-1 The Millennium". This would be the first of three fights between the legends.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts continued his win-streak when he knocked out Andrew Thomson in fifty-six seconds at "K-1 King of the Ring 2000" in Bologna, Italy, on May 12, 2000. This run came to an end, however, when he came up against Cyril Abidi, a promising young French fighter, at "K-1 Spirits 2000" on July 7, 2000. Abidi managed to drag Aerts into a brawl and caused a huge upset by KOing him in round one. Aerts was then given the chance to prove this loss was simply a fluke when he rematched Abidi in the quarter-finals of the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama", a qualifying tournament for the 2000 World Grand Prix. He was unable to do so, however, and Abidi stopped him en route to the final.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Despite having lost his last two fights and failing to win a K-1 qualifying tournament, Aerts was still invited to the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Final" at the Tokyo Dome on December 10, 2000, due to his status as one of the world's top kickboxers. At the quarter-final stage, he was given his rubber match with Cyrl Abidi. Aerts dominated the fight this time, and knocked Abidi down with a two-punch combination just seconds after the opening bell. He took a unanimous decision (29-26, 29-28, 29-26) after three rounds. However, during the fight, Abidi headbutted Aerts numerous times which caused a cut on his forehead. Due to this cut, Aerts could not advance in the tournament and was replaced by Abidi in the semis.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts would then KO Stuart Green in round one in a superfight at the "K-1 Holland GP 2001 in Arnhem" on February 4, 2001, his first fight in the Netherlands in almost six years. After a decision loss to Mirko Cro Cop at "K-1 Gladiators 2001" and a TKO win over Nobu Hayashi at "K-1 Burning 2001" in early 2001, he entered the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas" on August 11, 2001. After knocking out Noboru Uchida in the quarter-finals of the tournament, he had his fourth fight with Maurice Smith in the semis and went 4-0 over the American with an extra round unanimous decision. In the final, he was KO'd by Stefan Leko late in the third round.


title: Peter Aerts

text: At the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final" on December 8, 2001, Aerts went up against Francisco Filho at the first stage. Aerts developed a large hemotoma on his left foot when Filho blocked one of his kicks with his knee. Due to this, Aerts' corner stopped the fight at the end of round two and he was eliminated from the tournament.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He kicked off 2002 with wins over Nicholas Pettas and Andrei Kirsanov in the first half of the year before losing a majority decision to Alexey Ignashov at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Fukuoka" on July 14, 2002. He qualified for the 2002 K-1 World Grand Prix final eight when he won a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) victory over Glaube Feitosa at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final Elimination" on October 5, 2002. At the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2002" on December 7, 2002, Aerts was eliminated from the Grand Prix at the quarter-final stage for the fourth year running when he was beaten by Ray Sefo via split decision (29-30, 30-28, 30-29).


title: Peter Aerts

text: Although Aerts did not have as much success in the 2000s as he did in his earlier K-1 career, he continued to be a competitive challenger. And while Andy Hug died and other old-school legends Branko Cikatić, Mike Bernardo, Sam Greco, Ernesto Hoost and Stan Longinidis all retired, Aerts continued to face the new generation of stars.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Stefan Leko defeated Peter Aerts for the second time on March 30, 2003, at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Saitama". He rebounded from two consecutive defeats, however, and knocked out Tsuyoshi Nakasako with a high kick at "K-1 Beast II 2003" on June 29, 2003 before qualifying for the 2003 K-1 WGP by beating Jerrel Venetiaan via unanimous decision (30-29, 30-29, 30-28) at "K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Elimination" on October 11, 2003. In the quarter-finals of the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final" on December 6, Aerts went up against Alexey Ignashov. After a close three rounds, the fight was scored a draw and went to an extra round. Aerts was judged the winner unanimously (10-9, 10-9, 10-9) and advanced into the semis for the first time since he won the Grand Prix in 1998. Against Musashi in the second stage was another close decision. This time, however, the judges went in favour of Aerts' opponent and Musashi won a majority decision (30-30, 30-29, 30-29).


title: Peter Aerts

text: In 2004, Aerts left Mejiro Gym to found Team Aerts, training out of Kops Gym in Amsterdam under Henri Hooft and Jan Plas. After six months out of the ring, he returned against Gary Goodridge at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Nagoya" on June 6, 2004. After withstanding the Trinidadian brawler's initial onslaught, Aerts brutalised Goodridge with low kicks over two and a half rounds. Although Goodridge was still game, he could barely stand and the referee stopped the fight in round three. Aerts then defeated Michael McDonald by unanimous decision (30-29, 30-29, 29-27) at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final Elimination" on September 25, 2004, to qualify for the K-1 World GP final eight. The "K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final", held on December 4, 2004, saw Aerts go up against South African boxer Francois Botha in the quarter-finals. Aerts lost in the first round when he could not continue after injuring his leg while low kicking Botha.


title: Peter Aerts

text: After a relatively poor 2004, Aerts went into 2005 with an extra round unanimous decision (9.5-8, 10-8.5, 10-8) over American prospect Carter Williams in a superfight at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul" on March 19, 2005. Williams' aggressive style had Aerts backtracking for much of the fight, but he was still able to show his class and take victory in the deciding round. He picked up another win over Mighty Mo at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Osaka - Final Elimination" on September 23, 2005, to ensure his place at the 2005 World Grand Prix. Mo showed signs of damage from Aerts' kicks towards the end of the first round, and Aerts was able to finish him with a low kick in round two. In the quarter-finals of the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Tokyo Final" on November 19, 2005, he faced Jérôme Le Banner for the fourth time. The fight started slowly, with both men showing respect for each other's power, but went on to be an exciting and close match. The judges scored it a draw after three rounds and it went into an extra round to decide the winner. All three judges agreed that Aerts was the winner (10-9, 10-9, 10-9). Injury would hinder him once again, however, and he was forced to pull out of the Grand Prix as he could not fight again that night. Having made his debut in mixed martial arts on July 6, 2005, when he knocked out former sumo wrestler Wakashoyo at "Hero's 2", Aerts returned for his second and last MMA bout against judoka Shungo Oyama at "K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!!" on December 31, 2005. Aerts was clearly unfamiliar with grappling and was submitted with a heel hook by Oyama as soon as the fight went to the ground at the 0:30 mark of round one.


title: Peter Aerts

text: On March 5, 2006, Aerts went into the ring with the 212 cm (6 ft 11 1⁄2 in) 2005 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Semmy Schilt in a superfight at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Auckland". After three rounds, Aerts was given the majority decision (28-28, 28-28, 29-28) win over the giant karate fighter. This win proved that, while his performances against top-tier competition had been waning in recent years, he was still a world-class kickboxer.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In his next fight, Aerts faced fellow K-1 legend Ernesto Hoost (the fifth and final meeting between the pair) at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Amsterdam" on May 13, 2006. The circumstances surrounding the match were rather bizarre as Hoost was scheduled to face Bob Sapp that night and Aerts was only there to commentate for television. However, Sapp ran from the Amsterdam ArenA and Aerts stepped in to replace him, and had to borrow a pair of fighting shorts from Semmy Schilt (which had Schilt's name written on them and displayed the Golden Glory gym's logo). Despite having not trained for the fight, Aerts was still able to last all three rounds with Hoost and lost a majority decision (30-29, 30-28, 30-30).


title: Peter Aerts

text: Then, following a knockout win over Hiraku Hori at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul" in June and a decision victory against Gary Goodridge at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Sapporo" in July, Aerts faced Musashi in a tournament reserve fight at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Tokyo Final" on December 2, 2006. He defeated Musashi by first-round KO, and after Remy Bonjasky was forced to withdraw from the Grand Prix due to an injury, Aerts took his place and met Glaube Feitosa in the semi-finals. After knocking the karate man down with a barrage of strikes in round two, the referee stopped the fight and Aerts went through to the final where a rematch with reigning champion Semmy Schilt awaited. He was unable to reenact his March 2006 performance, however, and Schilt took a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-28) after three rounds. Schilt knocked him down with a knee in round two and dominated the fight overall with his size advantage.


title: Peter Aerts

text: On June 23, 2007, at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Amsterdam", Aerts faced Bob Sapp in a much-anticipated superfight. In what was a rather anti-climactic affair, Aerts struck Sapp with the left knee, Sapp fell down and the fight was over in 0:25 of the first round. He then KO'd Nicholas Pettas with a sensational high kick at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hong Kong" on August 5, 2007 before going up against Ray Sefo at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Seoul Final 16" on September 29, 2007. He won the fight at the end of the first round by TKO (corner stoppage) when Sefo did not answer the bell. As a result of his victory, Aerts qualified for his 15th consecutive K-1 World Grand Prix .


title: Peter Aerts

text: The "K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 Final" was held on December 8, 2007, at the Yokohama Arena. After a quick knockout of Junichi Sawayashiki in the quarter-finals, he met two-time K-1 World Grand Prix winner Remy Bonjasky in the semis and dominated him en route to a unanimous decision (30-29, 30-27, 30-28) win which would take him into the final for a rubber match with defending champion Sem Schilt. Midway through the first round, Aerts went down in pain clutching his right knee. He was unable to continue due to injury once again and Schilt regained the title.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts began 2008 with a TKO win over South African giant Jan Nortje at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka" on 29 June, before meeting Semmy Schilt for the fourth time at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Seoul Final 16" on September 27. Aerts won by majority decision (30-29, 30-29, 30-30) to bring their rivalry to 2-2 and qualify for the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final" which was held on 6 December 2008. He was eliminated at the first stage by K-1 Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari. Aerts gave a poor performance in the match, and was knocked down less than twenty seconds into round one. In the second round, Hari dominated even more and forced the referee to stop the fight.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Following this poor showing, many critics and fans believed that, at 38 years old, Aerts was too old and past his prime. Nonetheless, he was determined to return to form and began training under Thom Harinck again in early 2009. With Harinck back in his corner, Aerts faced Errol Zimmerman in a superfight at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Yokohama". Although the fight went to an extra round decision which Aerts won unanimously (10-9, 10-9, 10-9), he looked like a much improved fighter. Following this, he knocked out former world cruiserweight boxing champion Yosuke Nishijima with a low kick in round three at a "K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP" superfight. With two good showings under his belt that year, Aerts then went up against Alistair Overeem at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul Final 16" on 26 September 2009. Despite Overeem's youth, size and strength advantage, Aerts was still the favourite going into the fight as Overeem had primarily spent his career as an MMA fighter and not a kickboxer. Although there were no knockdowns in the match, Overeem dominated over three rounds and took the unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).


title: Peter Aerts

text: After this fight, Aerts dropped more weight under a diet that Harinck set for him, dropping to 103 kg as opposed to his usual 109–112 kg. He took part in a tournament reserve bout at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final" on 5 December 2009, defeating Gökhan Saki by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-28). None of the tournament fighters were withdrawn, however, so this was the first time since the tournament's founding in 1993 that Aerts had not competed at the K-1 World Grand Prix.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts continued to drop weight, and on 3 April 2010, he faced K-1 Heavyweight (-100kg) Champion Kyotaro for the title at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama". He came into the fight at 97 kg. Despite looking in good shape, he was knocked down twice in the first round (although the second knockdown did not count as it came just as the bell sounded) before getting knocked out with one of Kyotaro's famous punches in the second.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Following this defeat, Aerts regained some of the weight that he had lost for his match against dreadlocked karate man Ewerton Teixeira at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16" on 2 October 2010. A close match, it was decided by an extra round unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9) in favour of Aerts who then qualified for the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final" on 11 December. In his 17th appearance at the K-1 WGP, he defeated Mighty Mo by first-round KO in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, he came face to face with his archrival Semmy Schilt, in a fight where he was a huge underdog due to his age and Schilt's success in the 2009 Grand Prix. After being cut above the eye and finishing the fight with a swollen face, Aerts won a brilliantly fought decision. However, he had taken a lot of damage in the fight with Schilt and started to cough up blood in his changing room after the fight. He was overwhelmed by a less damaged and much fitter and bigger Alistair Overeem and lost by first-round TKO. Though he was defeated, he broke three world records in K-1: He became the oldest man (at 40 years old) to ever make it to the K-1 World Grand Prix Final, he marked the most appearances (6) that any fighter had ever made it to the Final, and also became the first person to ever beat Semmy Schilt in a tournament.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts was expected to face Melvin Manhoef at the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2011 in Nanjing Final 16" on 29 October 2011. However, the event was cancelled with K-1 experiencing severe financial problems. With his December schedule clear for the first time in 18 years, he defeated Japanese fighter Mr. Kamikaze by first-round TKO on a show titled "Hinokuni Kakuto Densetsu Legend 2" on December 11, 2011.


title: Peter Aerts

text: His next fight was a TKO loss against Tyrone Spong at an It's Showtime event on 30 June 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. After that fight, Aerts signed a contract to compete exclusively for at least the next two years with GLORY, a newly-formed kickboxing league which numerous top champions joined following the demise of K-1.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He competed in the sixteen-man 2012 Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam at "" in Saitama, Japan on 31 December 2012 but injury forced him to bow out of the tournament at the first stage. He performed well in round one of his bout with his one-time student Mourad Bouzidi but broke his right hand in the process and was unable to come out for the second round.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He fought Jamal Ben Saddik at "" on 3 May 2013 at the Ariake Coliseum. A poor start to the fight for Aerts saw him dropped early and he was fortunate to survive the first round. However, in a dramatic turnaround in the second, he came out aggressive and floored the giant Moroccan three times, forcing a referee stoppage.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In what was publicized as his retirement match, Aerts lost a tightly-contested split decision to Rico Verhoeven at "", Japan on 21 December 2013.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts was initially expected to compete in a heavyweight tournament at "GFC Series 1" in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 29 May 2014. However, a press statement issued by the promotion later stated that he would fight on the card in a one-off fight against Dewey Cooper. Aerts fought to a draw with Cooper, tearing his hamstring during the match.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts fought Freddy Kemayo at "Fight Night Saint-Tropez II" in Saint-Tropez, France on 4 August 2014, losing by TKO as a result of a leg injury in round two.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He then faced Ernesto Hoost for the sixth time on 19 October 2014 in Osaka for the vacant WKO World Heavyweight Championship. The 49-year-old Hoost won by unanimous decision after three, two-minute rounds.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In June 2015, Aerts – at 44 years old – officially announced his retirement via video at a press conference for an upcoming kickboxing show in Japan that he was scheduled to appear on. Aerts noted that he had sustained some injuries in his October fight with Ernesto Hoost, and when he was unable to fully recover from those injuries, he made the decision to retire.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts' retirement was short-lived, however, and he returned to the ring to compete in his third mixed martial arts match, against the debuting Estonian sumo wrestler Baruto Kaito at "" at the Saitama Super Arena on 31 December 2015. He lost to his larger opponent via a lopsided unanimous decision.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In yet another retirement match, Aerts was scheduled to face Tsotne Rogava at "WFL 5: Champion vs. Champion" in Almere on 23 April 2017, but his opponent was later changed to Nordine Mahieddine. Aerts defeated Mahieddine by unanimous decision to record his 105th career win. Afterwards, he was joined in the ring by fellow Dutch kickboxing legends Ernesto Hoost, Remy Bonjaskyn and Semmy Schilt, who were on hand to congratulate the retiring Aerts.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts took part in a scoreless exhibition bout against Atakan Arslan at "MFC 24" in İzmir, Turkey on 27 January 2018.


title: Peter Aerts

text: On 26 July 2018, Aerts lost by unanimous decision to Jan Soukup at "Yangames Fight Night 6" in Prague, Czech Republic.


title: Peter Aerts

text: He defeated Christian Müller via KO due to a knee strike in the first round of their match at "La Familia Fight Night X" in Halle, Germany on 4 May 2019.


title: Peter Aerts

text: The 49-year-old Aerts won against 45-year-old Brazilian-Japanese opponent Jairo Kusunoki via a low kick KO early in the second round at "HEAT 46" in Tokyo on 19 January 2020.


title: Peter Aerts

text: In 2011, Aerts began competing as a professional wrestler in the Inoki Genome Federation. He debuted on August 27, 2011, against Shinichi Suzukawa at "IGF: Super Stars Festival '11" and won by brutalizing his opponent until the referee stopped the match. He then knocked out Hideki Suzuki at "IGF 17" on September 3, 2011. In his third match, Aerts teamed up with Bobby Lashley to face Kazuyuki Fujita and Kendo Kashin in a tag team match at "Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2011" on December 2, 2011. The match ended when Lashley held Fujita by the arms and let Aerts deliver one of his famous kicks to his head, knocking him out. A rematch between Aerts and Fujita then took place at "" on December 31, 2011. Fujita was able to take his revenge, submitting Aerts with a Boston crab which looked like it may have legitimately hurt him.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts played a fictionalized version of himself in the 2011 Dutch comedy film "New Kids Turbo" in which the protagonists, a group of guys who always look for trouble and create chaos in a small village, borrow some money from him. He is seen living in a villa, and in one scene he knocks out one of the guys for refusing to give him the money back. Aerts reprised the role in the 2012 sequel "New Kids Nitro". In 2017, he played the role of Ludolf, henchman to Najib Amhali's villain, in the family film "De Familie Slim".


title: Peter Aerts

text: Additionally, he has appeared on the Swedish martial arts television program "Rallarsving" in 2005, as well as the Dutch late-night talk shows "Pauw & Witteman" (two appearances, in 2008 and 2012) and "Pauw" in 2014.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts filmed a Japanese television commercial for Cup Noodles with Andy Hug and Ernesto Hoost in the 1990s.


title: Peter Aerts

text: Aerts and his wife Esther have twin children, son Marciano and daughter Montana (born 2001), who are also kickboxers. He also has a stepdaughter, Serena, from his wife's previous relationship. Aerts lives near Enschede, where he runs a gym, Fight Institute Peter Aerts. He also owns an amateur kickboxing association in Japan, Peter Aerts Spirit.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: Kolkata Metro Line 2, also known as the East-West Metro and Green Line, is a rapid transit line of the Kolkata Metro in the Indian state of West Bengal. It currently consists of an operational section between Salt Lake and Sealdah, and will eventually connect Howrah by going underneath the Hooghly River, with an eastern extension also planned for Teghoria. It would consist of 17 stations from Teghoria (Haldiram) in the east to Howrah Maidan in the west, of which 11 would be elevated and 6 would be underground, with a total distance of 22 km. It is expected to derive a very high ridership since it will connect India's two largest commuter railway and long-distance railway terminals (Howrah and (Sealdah) along with two of its largest business districts (BBD Bagh and Salt Lake Sector V). Line 2 has India's first underwater metro tunnel along with the deepest metro shaft. The first phase between Salt Lake Sector V and Salt Lake Stadium was inaugurated by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on 13 February 2020 and commercial services started from 14 February 2020.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: The master plan had already identified the corridor way back in 1971. But the success of the Delhi Metro contributed to the sanction of the East – West Metro corridor, which will connect Howrah Railway Station with the Satellite City of Salt Lake. In January 2004, the Pacific Consultant International Group conducted a feasibility study for the line. The report proposed the route and tubular structures be under the Hooghly River.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: A new organisation called the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRC) was formed, which will be executing the operations of this Line, commencing construction in 2009. Of KMRC's eight directors, four each were from the state and central governments. The cost was being shared between the state government (30 per cent), the Union Urban Development Ministry (25 per cent), and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) (45 per cent). But as of 2011, after state government dis-invested from the project, most of the share of this project went to Indian Railways and with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The project is estimated at a cost of . While by 2019, the cost escalated to .


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: But due to major setbacks, such as land acquisition, slum relocation, and route alignment problems, the project got delayed. The East-West Corridor was originally slated to be operational by 2012, but was later pushed back to 2015. The project will now be implemented in four phases. The first phase, from Salt Lake Sector V to Salt Lake Stadium, became operational on 13 February 2020. The second phase, to Phoolbagan opened on 4 October 2020, operational from 5 October 2020. The third phase to Sealdah is operational from 14 July 2022 and the final phase which includes the journey through the tubular tunnels under the Ganges will be operational by 2023.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: The section between Sealdah and Mahakaran station was realigned due to the objection of Government of West Bengal. Work at Howrah Maidan has started in March 2016. The section between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade station has been built by the Afcons – Transtonnelstroy JV team, two tunnel boring machines from Herrenknecht are being used to dig the tunnel. This section passes through the river Hooghly for a distance of 520 meters. The section under the river is at a depth of 30 meters (roof to ground distance) whereas the average roof to ground distance is 17 meters. The Howrah station on the west side of the river will be at a depth of 30 meters. Tunnelling started from Howrah Maidan side, by Afcons. On 23 May 2017 one of the TBM named Rachna completed the tunneling under the Hoogly river in 36 days. The other TBM named Prerna also completed the tunnelling work under the river on 21 June 2017. There were some concerns during tunneling under Brabourne road as the tunnel would pass within 100 meters of heritage structures and there were also many old and dilapidated buildings in this section. KMRC received permission from Archaeological Survey of India in June 2017. Residents and shops in the old building were temporarily shifted and the buildings were reinforced before construction of tunnel. Construction of tunnel to Mahakaran station was completed in November 2017. For the Mahakaran-Esplanade section, tunneling has been completed on 23 March 2018. The other tunnel has also been completed by April. In these sections, above ground retail buildings have been shifted in a phased manner prior to tunnelling. The Esplanade – Sealdah section will be executed by ITD Cementation JV and started in May 2018. The Esplanade - Sealdah section has been delayed due to the detection of steel beams that were left during the construction of the first line of Kolkata Metro. The NATM tunneling method is being used to cut the steel beams. This work was concluded in February 2019 and then the main tunneling commenced. In September 2019, when TBM Chandi reached Bowbazar, it hit a massive aquafier, less than a kilometer from its destination, Sealdah. It led to soil subsidence and many buildings collapsed. The residents were shifted to hotels and apartments. Later the land was stabilized by grouting and the unsafe buildings were pulled down. High Court ordered to stop further tunneling immediately. Due to the incident the tunneling was delayed, thus delaying the overall deadline for one year. It was planned that the affected TBM would be taken out from the incident site, and the second one will complete the tunneling till Sealdah. Then it will be reversed again to complete the remaining portion of the tunnel of first TBM. In mid-February 2020, High Court asked to resume the work in the affected area.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: On 3 February 2020, the final inauguration date was revealed. After 11 years, since the construction started, the first phase of the line was inaugurated on 13 February by Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, with commercial services to start the very next day. The service will start from 8 am and ends at 8 pm, with 37 pairs of services a day. 5 rakes would run at a frequency of 20 minutes. Dipak Kumar drove the first train.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: All the stations in this line will be equipped with Platform Screen Doors to keep people away from the tracks. Mott MacDonald is the detailed design consultant for all the elevated stations, whereas Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects have designed all the underground stations. Out of the 6 underground stations, 3 will be built by ITD Cementation, a part of Italian-Thai Development Public Company and the other 3 will be built by Afcons including the 520 meters underwater stretch. All the elevated stations will be built by Kolkata based Simplex Infrastructure ltd.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: Ninety escalators and forty elevators are to be installed at different levels in the line to facilitate smooth mobility of passengers including physically challenged & aged persons. LOA for installation of forty-one escalators and twenty-six elevators for 8 nos. stations of Phase-I has been awarded.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: TVS shall provide a means to control smoke flow and ensure safe evacuation of passengers in case of fire as well as maintain an acceptable environment in the tunnel and station track way. Tender for the TVS was invited and the bids of eligible tenderers are being evaluated.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: PSDs are a system of full height/half height motorised sliding doors that provide controlled access to the trains and protect the platform edge. PSD work for 6 elevated and 1 underground station have been completed.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: The line will have two types of signaling equipment supplied by ANSALDO STS . One will feature cab signaling and continuous automatic train control with automatic train protection. The other signaling equipment will include an integrated system featuring fiber optic cable, SCADA, radios and a PA system. The line will also have a train information system, control telephones and a centralized clock system. Contract for AFC works has been awarded to M/s. Indra Sistemas SA (Spain).


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: Unlike the north–south corridor, the east–west metro will run from 8 am to 8 pm at a frequency of 1.5 minutes during peak hours and 5 minutes during non-peak hours. But in phase 1 operations, the frequency will be 20 minutes, and each will stop for 20 seconds in each station.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: CAF in collaboration with Melco was to supply 14 trains for this line. The 14 rakes were acquired at a cost of approximately €110m . Each rake will compose of 6 coaches having a capacity of 2068 people per train. The maximum speed of the train will be . The first lot of trains was to be manufactured in Spain and imported to Kolkata in November 2014. The next lot was to be manufactured in India. However, the tender was cancelled by KMRC due to technical reasons and excessive delay in project. And a re-tender was issued in July 2015. BEML emerged as the only bidder in the fourth round of bidding for providing rolling stock. Thus, the contract for providing the rakes was awarded to BEML. BEML have earlier provided rakes for Delhi Metro, Bengaluru Metro & Jaipur Metro. Fourteen rakes, each with six coaches, were ordered. Out of fourteen, eleven rakes are already received by KMRC.


title: Kolkata Metro Line 2

text: The West Bengal government have proposed an extension to the East–West Metro line. In this proposal the East-West Metro will be connected again to the Dum Dum Airport-New Garia Metro in Teghoria (Haldiram). According to this proposal the East-West Metro will have 3 terminating stations at Howrah Maidan, Sector V and the proposed Teghoria station. In Teghoria, it will be connected to the NSCBI Airport-New Garia metro route (VIP Road Station) and interconnection facilities will be present. It was previously planned that the extension and the present route would converge at the Central Park Station. But now the plan is changed and it is decided to extend the line directly from Salt Lake Sector V Station. The proposed extension is under study and it will need several clearances before being implemented. 10 km East-West Metro extension project from Howrah Maidan to Santragachi bus terminus had been proposed. RITES, the implementing agency for this project planned to start work on the corridor early in 2017.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hallee Leah Hirsh (born 1987/1988) is an American actress perhaps best known for her roles as Mattie Grace Johnson on "JAG", Daley in the children's series "Flight 29 Down", and as the adolescent and young adult Rachel Greene on "ER".


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hallee was born on Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Deborah, a naval officer, and Mike Hirsh, a Marine officer. She began acting when she was three, with her older brother Greg.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hirsch and her family moved frequently, first to Pensacola, Florida, where Hallee landed her first role after her first audition in Orlando for Disney's Big Red Boat cruise line. When she was four, her mother was transferred to Long Island, and Hallee began taking the train into Manhattan after school to audition almost daily, landing roles such as Annabel Fox in You've Got Mail.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: After her agent, Abby Bluestone, moved to Los Angeles, Hallee at age 11 and her family followed, and her mother was stationed in Monterey, California. Hallee lived with her father in the Oakwood Toluca Hills apartment complex, alongside other notable child stars such as Hilary Duff, a time which she has referred to as "an important part of her life". She graduated magna cum laude from UCLA in 2011, majoring in anthropology and minoring in Chinese.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hirsh first portrayed Rachel Greene in the eighth season (2001-02) of ER in a storyline where a now teenage and rebellious Rachel leaves her mother in St. Louis to be with her father, Mark Greene; the character returns to St. Louis when Mark dies that season. Hirsh later reprised her role in 2004 in the season 10 episode "Midnight", visiting her stepmother Dr. Elizabeth Corday. In the ER series finale, aired April 2, 2009, titled "And in the End", Hirsh's character returned as a candidate interviewing for medical school, bringing the Greene family history full circle.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Following her one main season on "ER", Hirsh appeared in the recurring role of Matilda "Mattie" Grace Johnson, for 17 episodes (2003-05) on the television series "JAG". Hirsh next starred in the Discovery Kids Channel teen series, "Flight 29 Down".


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hirsh is the recipient of two "Youth in Film" Young Artist Awards and was nominated for best acting awards for four other roles. She was nominated for Best Comedic Actress in a Feature Film at the 2009 Method Fest film festival for her work in "16 to Life" and won Best Actress for same role and film at both the 2010 Tunis International Film Festival and the 2010 Alaska International Film Festival.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hirsh has not been active in film or television since 2014, with one subsequent credit in the film "Chasing The Rain" in 2020.


title: Hallee Hirsh

text: Hirsh married Ryan Martin in 2013 and they have two sons, born in May 2014 and December 2018. At the end of 2014, the family relocated from Los Angeles to Asheville, North Carolina, where they operate Hole Doughnuts, a doughnut shop which received recognition from Bon Appétit magazine for "Dessert of the Year" in 2016.


title: Elliott Gould filmography

text: He is known for his performances in film such as "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969), "M*A*S*H" (1970), "The Long Goodbye" (1973), "California Split" (1974), "A Bridge Too Far" (1977), "American History X" (1998), "The Ocean's film franchise", (2001, 2004, 2007, 2018), "Contagion" (2011), and "Ruby Sparks" (2012).


title: Elliott Gould filmography

text: He is also known for his performances in television shows such as "Friends", "Ray Donovan", "Mulaney", "Grace and Frankie", "The Kominsky Method".


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae (, ) is a South Korean department store franchise, along with several other businesses, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The firm is an affiliate of Shinsegae Group, South Korea's leading retail chaebol, and one of the big three department store firms in Korea, along with Lotte and Hyundai Department Store. Its flagship store in Centum City, Busan, was the world's largest department store at , surpassing Macy's flagship Herald Square in New York City in 2009.


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae was the first credit card company in South Korea. They issued their own charge card from 1967 to 2000. In 2000, Shinsegae sold their credit card division to KorAm Bank, which was later acquired by Citibank Korea.


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae was originally part of the Samsung Group "chaebol", separated in the 1990s from the Samsung Group along with CJ Group (Food/Chemicals/Entertainment), Saehan Group (Electronic Media/Apparel/Textiles), and the Hansol Group (Paper/Telecom). The chairman Lee Myung-hee is the daughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull and younger sister of the chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Kun-hee.


title: Shinsegae

text: The group owns the brands Shinsegae and E-Mart, and is in direct competition with Lotte Shopping and Hyundai Department Store Group. Currently it is the largest retailer in South Korea.


title: Shinsegae

text: The main branch of Shinsegae is the oldest department store in Korea. It was opened in 1930 as the Gyeongseong branch of Mitsukoshi, a Japanese department store franchise; Korea was occupied by the Japanese Empire at the time. The store was acquired in 1945 by the late founder of Samsung group, Lee Byung-chull, and renamed Donghwa Department Store. After the Korean War (1950–1953) began, it was used for several years as a post exchange by the American army. In 1963, the store was given the name Shinsegae. The old building is currently used as a luxury shopping venue.


title: Shinsegae

text: In 2021, Shinsegae bought the then-named SK Wyverns of the KBO League from SK and renamed then the SSG Landers. They bought them for 135.2 billion won, (100 billion for the team itself, and 35.2 billion for the team's facilities and properties) equivalent to $112.8 million.


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae also has a small branch in Incheon International Airport, and a supermarket in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae launched the Shinsegae Style Market, a smaller shopping mall mainly aimed at young customers, in 2010. Despite its name, the mall is managed by Shinsegae's subsidiary E-Mart.


title: Shinsegae

text: E-Mart (이마트) is a subsidiary of Shinsegae and a large discount store chain founded in South Korea, having stores in China, Korea and Mongolia. Domestically, E-Mart is the biggest discount store chain followed by Home Plus, and Lotte Mart.


title: Shinsegae

text: In late May 2006, Shinsegae revealed plans to buy all 16 of the Wal-Mart stores in Korea. All of the country's Wal-Mart outlets were re-branded as E-Mart in October 2006. Wal-Mart exited the Korean market soon after.


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae spun off its E-Mart department into a separate corporation () in 2012. The shopping mall was acquired by E-Mart in January 2014.


title: Shinsegae

text: SSG (usually read as "쓱") is an online shopping mall operated by Shinsegae in 2014. Through this shopping mall, products from Shinsegae affiliates (Shinsegae Department Store, E-Mart, Casamia, CHICOR, etc.) can be shopped online.


title: Shinsegae

text: Shinsegae banned commercial images of actress Go Hyun-jung (고현정) from their department stores following her divorce from vice chairman and former CEO Chung Yong-jin.


The 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit, commonly known as the Singapore Summit, was a summit meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, held at the Capella Hotel, Sentosa, Singapore, on 12 June 2018. It was the first-ever meeting between leaders of North Korea and the United States. They signed a joint statement, agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea, new peaceful relations, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, recovery of soldiers' remains, and follow-up negotiations between high-level officials. Both leaders also met separately with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.


title: 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit

text: Immediately following the summit, President Trump announced that the U.S. military would discontinue "provocative" joint military exercises with South Korea, and stated that he wished to bring the U.S. soldiers back home at some point, but he reinforced that it was not part of the Singapore equation. On August 1, 2018, the U.S. Senate passed the military budget bill for 2019, forbidding funding the reduction of active USFK personnel below 22,000; significant removal of US forces is considered a non-negotiable item in denuclearization talks with the North.


text: After a period of heightened conflict that included North Korea successfully testing what it claims was its first hydrogen bomb and the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in late 2017, tensions began to de-escalate after Kim Jong-un announced his desire to send athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympics being held in South Korea. During the games, Kim proposed talks with South Korea to plan an inter-Korean summit. On March 8, the South Korean delegation returned from the talks and traveled to the United States to deliver an invitation by Kim Jong-un to Donald Trump for a meeting. High-level exchanges between the two sides then took place, including a visit by then–CIA Director Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang and a visit by Kim Yong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, to the White House. Both sides threatened to cancel the summit after a round of joint military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea, with Trump even delivering a formal letter to Kim to call off the meeting; however, the two sides eventually agreed to meet.


text: The Koreas have been divided since 1945. The Korean War of 1950–1953 ended with an armistice agreement but not a peace settlement. A sporadic conflict has continued with American troops remaining in the South as part of a mutual defense treaty. The North began building a nuclear reactor in 1963, and it began a nuclear weapons program in the 1980s. North Korea first committed to denuclearization in 1992 in the Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In a speech authored by David Frum, President George W. Bush referred to North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" during his 2002 State of the Union address, but in the 2005 Joint Statement of the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks, North Korea reaffirmed the 1992 Joint Declaration and the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In 2008, North Korea voluntarily gave information on its nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief, and they were taken off the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Despite this, nuclear inspectors were barred from surveying any North Korean weapons facilities. The Obama administration had a policy of "strategic patience", in which perceived North Korean provocations would not be "rewarded" with presidential attention or the sending of high-level envoys but instead be punished with sanctions and greater military coordination with South Korea and Japan. More nuclear tests were conducted in the succeeding years, and the 2010 bombardment of Yeonpyeong markedly raised tensions between North Korea and South Korea. The escalation of North Korea's nuclear program advanced particularly under the rule of Kim Jong-un, who became the leader in December 2011, after his father Kim Jong-il died.


text: Donald Trump was elected US president in 2016 with a position of opposition to Barack Obama's policy of "strategic patience" towards North Korea. While advocating a tough stance, he also expressed openness to dialogue, saying he would be prepared to "eat a hamburger" with Kim. He put himself at odds with military allies, saying that it would be better if South Korea and Japan protect themselves. In return, a pro-North Korean website, DPRK Today, described him as a "wise politician". The editorial suggested that Trump might make the slogan "Yankee go home" a reality. In 2017, Moon Jae-in was elected President of South Korea with a promise to return to the Sunshine Policy of friendly relations with the North.


text: During a period of heightened tensions with the United States, North Korea successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), named Hwasong-14, in July 2017. In response to heightened North Korean rhetoric, Trump warned that any North Korean attack "will be met with fire, fury and frankly, power, the likes of which the world has never seen before". In response, North Korea announced that it was considering a missile test in which the missiles would land near the US territory of Guam. North Korea tested what some sources argued may have been its first hydrogen bomb on September 3. The test was internationally condemned, and further economic sanctions were put on North Korea. The United States also added North Korea back to its State Sponsors of Terrorism list after nine years. On November 28, North Korea launched the Hwasong-15, which, according to analysts, would be capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. The United Nations responded by placing further sanctions on the country. After North Korea claimed that the missile was capable of "carrying [a] super-heavy [nuclear] warhead and hitting the whole mainland of the U.S.", Kim-Jong-Un announced that they had "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force", putting them in a position of strength to push the United States into talks.


text: In his New Year address of 2018, North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un celebrated completing the countries' nuclear capabilities and proposed talks for sending a delegation to the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea. In January a false missile alert alarmed Hawaii. The Seoul–Pyongyang hotline was reopened after almost two years. North Korea sent an unprecedentedly high-authority delegation, headed by Kim Yo-jong, sister of Kim Jong-un, and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Yong-nam, and including performers like the Samjiyon Orchestra. The delegation passed on an invitation to President Moon to visit North Korea. The United States was represented by Vice President Mike Pence. After arriving late to a dinner hosted by President Moon, he was asked to greet the other dignitaries, but he shook hands with everyone except Kim Yong-nam and left early. North and South Korean athletes marched together in the Olympics opening ceremony and fielded a united women's ice hockey team.


text: On March 5, 2018, South Korea's special delegation agreed to hold the third inter-Korean summit at Inter-Korean Peace House in Panmunjom on April 27, 2018. On March 6, after returning to South Korea, the national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, and National Information Director Suh Hoon traveled to the United States on March 8 to report to Trump about the upcoming inter-Korean summit and relayed to President Trump the North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un's invitation. Trump endorsed the North Korea–United States summit about an hour after receiving the report. The South Korean National Security Adviser (SKNS), Mr. Jeong briefed the public that the North Korea–United States summit would be held sometime in May 2018.


text: The White House announced that the UN Sanctions would remain in place until an agreement between the United States and North Korea is reached. On March 6, Sarah Sanders said that the White House would need to see "concrete and verifiable steps" toward the denuclearization of North Korea before Trump would meet with Kim Jong-un. Later that day, an unidentified Trump official told "The Wall Street Journal" that Trump had still accepted Kim Jong-un's invitation.


text: South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong visited China on March 12 to meet with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, of the foreign officials and report on the planned inter-Korean summit as well as the North Korea-United States summit and asked their advice. Russia on March 14, 2018, for explaining North Korea and the United States Visit Summary, seeking guidance for upcoming 2018 inter-Korean summit. National Information Director Suh Hoon visited Japan and had a consultation with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe including the foreign officials about the denuclearization and Permanent Peace on the Korean Peninsula.


text: South Korea's foreign ministry announced on March 18 that selected informal delegations from North Korea, South Korea, and the US would meet for denuclearization discussions in April in Vantaa, Finland. (This type of discussions, as held previously, had sometimes been referred to as track-2 talks.) According to South Korea's "Yonhap" news, Choe Kang-il, a deputy director general for North American affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry, would also attend the event, which "Yonhap" termed "track-1.5 talks".


text: North Korea's supreme leader Kim was in Beijing on March 25–28, 2018, arriving by special train for talks with China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, Kim's first known out-of-country excursion since taking power six years previously. China stated that North Korea was "committed to denuclearization" and willing to hold a summit with the United States. It was organized by the invitation of Xi. During the meeting between two leaders, Kim officially invited Xi to the North Korean capital Pyongyang when it was convenient in his schedule, and Xi accepted the invitation.


text: Xi urged Kim to strengthen the strategic and diplomatic future partnership between China and North Korea. Kim stressed to Xi that North Korea and China are communist countries and that there are many ways to cooperate in various aspects in the future. Kim and Xi met again on May 7, 2018, in the city of Dalian, China.


text: According to North Korea's state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim led a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's political bureau on April 9, 2018, where he spoke about the planned summit with Trump for the first time.


text: On April 11, North Korea presented five entreaties as conditions for the dismissal of their nuclear-capable ICBMs:


text: Although North Korea was previously expected to request the withdrawal of United States Forces Korea (USFK) from South Korea, North Korea publicized they would embrace the continuous deployment of 25,000 USFK troops in South Korea as long as the security of North Korea is guaranteed.


text: At an inter-Korean summit on April 27, 2018, held at the Peace House in Panmunjom, the leaders of North and South Korea agreed to formally end the Korean War before the end of the year and confirmed the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through denuclearization.


text: On May 10, 2018, three Americans held by North Korea were released following negotiations between the Trump administration and the North Korean regime. Some have speculated that their release was part of an attempt of the regime to motivate the US to continue the negotiations and perhaps ease the pressure upon the North Koreans. Nevertheless, their release has managed to ease the tensions between the Trump administration and the North Korean regime, enabling both sides to proceed to further negotiations, possibly leading to the 2018 North Korea–United States summit.


text: The three Americans Kim Dong Chul, Kim Sang-duk, and Kim Hak-song left North Korea accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and were greeted by the president and the first lady upon their landing on US soil at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.


text: American Vice President Mike Pence said on May 21, 2018, that "this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn't make a deal" to "dismantle his nuclear weapons program". Trump had made similar remarks on May 17, as he described that Libya's fate is "what will take place if we don't make a deal". These comments were in reference to the killing of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after military intervention by Americans and Europeans in 2011. After a NATO airstrike prevented Gaddafi's escape, the Libyan rebels captured, assaulted, sodomized, and executed Gaddafi. However, Libya under Gaddafi had already in 2003 voluntarily ended its nuclear weapons program and complied with conditions set by Western powers. As a result, North Korean vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui called Pence's remarks "ignorant and stupid" and threatened a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown".


text: Trump canceled the summit on May 24, 2018, via a letter to Chairman Kim, writing that "based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting ... You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used." Even though it was Trump who decided to cancel, Trump told Kim, "If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write."


text: South Korean President Moon was left "very perplexed" by Trump's cancellation, while the South Korean minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs Cho Myoung-gyon said that North Korea "remains sincere" on "efforts on denuclearization and peace building".


text: In response to Trump's cancellation, North Korean vice foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan expressed his country's "willingness to sit down face-to-face with the US and resolve issues anytime and in any format", being "open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the US" for the "peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula". Trump's cancellation had come on the day North Korea had detonated explosives at its only known nuclear test site, at Punggye-ri in front of international journalists; North Korea claimed that this would have demolished the test site.


text: On May 25, however, Trump announced that the summit could resume as scheduled following a "very nice statement" he received from North Korea and that talks were now resuming.


text: The following day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed in a statement that a "pre-advance team for Singapore will leave as scheduled in order to prepare the summit should take place". The team, consisting of about thirty staffers from both the White House and State Department, met with North Korean counterparts over Memorial Day weekend.


text: On May 30, North Korean general Kim Yong-chol arrived in New York City to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Negotiations between Kim and Pompeo continued the next day, and Pompeo later stated at a press conference that "good progress" had been made. Kim Yong-chol, who is the Vice Chair of Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the US since 2000 (when Jo Myong-rok met with US President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C.).


text: On June 1, Trump announced the summit would resume as scheduled for June 12 after he met Kim Yong-chol at the White House. Kim Yong-chol delivered a letter from Kim Jong-un to Trump, of which Trump first told reporters that it was "a very nice" and "a very interesting letter", yet eight minutes later said "I haven't seen the letter yet. I purposely didn't open the letter".


text: On May 22, 2018, South Korea President Moon Jae-in visited the United States to meet President Trump, to promote Trump-Kim summit progress, and to coordinate the two countries' common strategy regarding the upcoming summit, following harsh rhetoric from North Korea towards Washington.


text: On 12 May 2018, North Korea announced the closure and planned dismantlement of its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, and invited journalists to witness the destruction of its tunnels and other testing infrastructure. On 24 May 2018, reporters witnessed explosions to purportedly close those tunnels, although independent inspectors were not present. Those explosions destroyed the portals to several test tunnels, but the extent of the damage to the tunnels themselves was not clear.


text: On June 3, North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong-un replaced three general officers responsible for the development of North Korea's ICBM nuclear weapons.


text: Two leaders of North and South Koreas exchanged their opinions about the issues and solutions for the Trump-Kim summit as Trump abruptly cancelled the upcoming US-North Korea summit on 12 June. The principal agenda of the meeting was trying to get U.S. summit back on track and keep progressing the denuclearization talks.


text: The second 2018 summit was established by Kim Jung-un's suggestion within a whirlwind 24 hour notice, but Moon Jae-in accepted Kim's invitation as per the critical nuclear agenda between North and South Korea. Moon Jae-in had expressed his belief, and he discussed with Kim Jong Un about Kim's willingness to join nuclear interventions with Trump. Both leaders also agreed to accelerate the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and meet again at "anytime and anyplace" without formality.


text: During President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korea envoy, the former spy chief Kim Yong-chol at the White House, Trump said that he would choose the "denuclearization process" in North Korea. The nuclear warheads and the ICBM nuclear missiles completed in North Korea could be transferred outside of North Korea and economic sanctions on North Korea could be partly alleviated. The next step would be comprehensive inspections on North Korea's nuclear facilities and nuclear ICBM weapons program by IAEA.


text: On July 7, 2018, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha met in Tokyo, where they reaffirmed their unity in urging North Korea to denuclearize as promised. The ministers stressed the need to call on North Korea to take concrete steps toward denuclearization and to keep existing U.N. economic sanctions in place.


text: Ten days later, Donald Trump said there is "no time limit" for North Korea to denuclearize and that there is no need to rush the process.


text: On June 3, a "special event area" was declared by the Ministry of Home Affairs around the area surrounding the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore and stringent security measures would be in force from June 10–14. On the same day, a smaller segment within the "special event area" was declared a "special zone" by the Singapore Police Force where enhanced police powers would be in effect during the same period. On June 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore) declared the whole of Sentosa Island, including waters off its south-west beaches, a "special event area" from June 10–14. The summit venue Capella Singapore sits on the "special event area". The government also issued an order exempting four bulletproof and bombproof vehicles from certain traffic rules for the purposes of conveying "non-citizen" individuals for the summit from June 5–30.


text: The F1 Pit Building has also been designated as the summit's International Media Centre for international journalists to cover the summit and will be operated from 10 am on June 10 to 10 pm on June 13.


text: On June 6, Singapore's aviation authorities announced that temporary airspace restrictions will be put in place for parts of June 11, 12 and 13. Aircraft arriving at Singapore Changi Airport will be required to reduce speed and some restrictions are placed on runway use. Aviators are also informed to stay away from Paya Lebar Air Base, a facility used by US Presidents on their previous visits to Singapore.


text: The Singapore Mint also released three commemorative medallions to mark the summit. They are available in gold proof, silver proof, and nickel plated zinc proof.


text: On June 9, the Singapore Police Force and the Land Transport Authority announced that security measures, such as road closures and security checks, will kick in. Some bus stops in the Tanglin area will be skipped and security checks will be conducted along stretches of roads around the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore and the St Regis Hotel Singapore, the two hotels Trump and Kim are believed to be staying in. Bag searches and other security checks may be conducted for visitors entering Sentosa Island.


text: On June 11, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan announced that the Singapore government would be paying for the North Korean contingent's hotel bill, forming part of the total US$20 million expenditure for the summit, as it was "hospitality that we would have offered them". On June 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced that the summit cost S$16.3 million, lower than the initial planned cost mentioned by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.


text: In preparation for the summit, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan visited the United States on a working visit and met with the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John R. Bolton. He visited North Korea and met with North Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong-ho and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Yong-nam to further lay the groundwork for the Trump-Kim summit.


text: The United States did not convene a Cabinet-level National Security Council meeting to discuss the summit with North Korea. Trump said: "I think I'm very well prepared ... I don't think I have to prepare very much ... this isn't a question of preparation, it's a question of whether or not people want it to happen, and we'll know that very quickly."


text: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited the summit's International Media Centre on June 10 when it opened. At a media conference, Lee mentioned that the summit cost S$20 million, with security costs taking up S$10 million and the setting up of the International Media Centre costing S$5 million, but it is a cost that Singapore is "willing to pay". The media center opened to journalists and they were given customized items, including a bottle of water, a fan, and a notebook. The center hosted more than 2500 local and international journalists.


text: On March 31 and possibly also April 1, then-CIA director Mike Pompeo had secretly met with Kim in Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for the summit, including their discussing possible venues. On April 17, on the day of a meeting at Mar-a-Lago of Trump with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe, sources revealed to reporters the identities involved in the discussions in Pyongyang.


text: Trump administration sources said on April 28 that the meeting would be held in either Singapore or Mongolia. On April 30, Trump remarked on a possibility the Peace House and inter-Korean House of Freedom (Joint Security Area) in Panmunjom would serve as venues. Trump believed that Panmunjom in DMZ would be the reasonable location for the meeting to remove nuclear weapons and to sign the preparatory peace treaty on the Korean peninsula.


text: The inter-Korean Peace House was where the 2018 inter-Korean summit was held earlier in April. Singapore was the site of a recent China–Taiwan summit. Mongolia has sponsored a number of talks in recent years involving regional and international players and is accessible by train from North Korea.


text: On April 30, Trump confirmed that Singapore, the Peace House and the inter-Korean House of Freedom were under consideration.


text: American officials said the most likely mutually-agreed-upon choice of venue would be in Southeast Asia or Europe, especially from among the choices of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Switzerland (where Kim and his two siblings had some schooling), or Sweden (whose embassy acts as intermediary for Americans traveling in North Korea). Another possible location of the summit would be Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.


text: Additionally proposed venues included Pyongyang, North Korea (favored by Kim); the Inter-Korean Peace House in Panmunjom near the boundary of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea (site for the April 27, 2018 inter-Korean summit; a site possibly favored by Kim for the summit with the US as well); the Russian port city of Vladivostok (accessible to Kim by land or sea and nearby Vyatskoye, Kim's predecessor and father Kim Jong-il's February 16, 1941 birthplace); a Chinese city such as Shenyang, Changchun, or Beijing (favored by China); Seoul or South Korea's Jeju Island; or, aboard a US ship in international waters.


text: CNN reported on May 9 that Singapore will be hosting the meeting on June 12. As per CNBC, a White House official said Singapore was chosen as it has diplomatic relations with both United States and North Korea, and was one of the few countries that have relationships with both countries. Trump confirmed the location on May 10 and announced that the summit is set for June 12. At from Pyongyang's Sunan airport, Singapore is easily within the range of Kim's Soviet-made Il-62M aircraft. Local media reported that the most likely choice of venue would be the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore near Orchard Road, known for hosting the annual Shangri-La Dialogue and the 2015 Ma–Xi meeting. A South Korean report also cited The Istana, the official residence of the President of Singapore, as a possible venue to host the summit.


text: Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs further provided information on the summit stating that "Singapore is pleased to host the meeting between President of the United States Donald J. Trump and Democratic People's Republic of Korea State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un on 12 June 2018. We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula". However, the ministry did not provide any details on the venue and the arrangements.


text: Following Trump's renewed commitment to the summit on June 1, Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the move and stated that Singapore would cover some of the costs of the summit. Advance team members of the American and North Korean delegations that were meeting in Singapore in prior weeks were believed to have been staying in Capella Singapore on Sentosa, and the Fullerton Hotel Singapore in the city's Downtown Core respectively, both of which were additional venue options for the summit.


text: The White House announced on June 4 that the meeting will take place at 9:00 am (SGT), and confirmed the next day that Capella Singapore will be the venue for the June 12 summit. The US clarified that they would not pay for North Korea's officials' accommodation. They also affirmed that they would talk with the South Korean and Japanese governments if asked about the possible declaration of the end of the Korean War during the summit.


text: On June 9, 2018, at a press conference at the G7 Summit in Quebec, Trump estimated that the interpersonal chemistry between him and Leader Kim Jong-un would be a deciding factor in the success of the Summit in Singapore and that this would be a one-time chance for North Korea to strike a deal.


text: US President Donald Trump left the 44th G7 summit around four hours earlier than scheduled and departed directly for Singapore. He reportedly viewed the G7 summit as a "distraction" from his summit with Kim. Trump landed at Singapore's Paya Lebar Airbase at 20:20 local time and was welcomed by Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan. A US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport plane was already at the air base ahead of his arrival. Trump stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, which has also hosted previous US Presidents.


text: North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un landed at Singapore Changi Airport on Sunday at about 14:35 local time and was welcomed by Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung. Kim flew to Singapore on a Boeing 747 operated by Air China, a plane used by the highest echelons of the Chinese leadership. According to media reports, a cargo plane, an Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-76, containing food items and other perishables landed in Singapore from North Korea before Kim's plane landed. Chiller trucks ferried them to the St. Regis Hotel Singapore where Kim stayed. A third plane from North Korea, an Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-62, landed shortly afterward; Kim's sister and Vice Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, Kim Yo-jong, was believed to be on board.


text: Both Trump and Kim met separately with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Kim met Lee on Sunday evening at The Istana. Trump met Lee on Monday afternoon, also at The Istana. He was accorded a bilateral meeting, followed by a working lunch and then an expanded bilateral meeting. During the meeting, Trump accepted President Halimah Yacob's invitation to make a State Visit to Singapore in November 2018, in conjunction with the 6th ASEAN-US Summit and 13th East Asia Summit.


text: A working-level meeting was held between the United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui, at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore on Monday morning. The meeting lasted over two hours and was believed to further work out the details of the summit between Trump and Kim and to push forward their agendas.


text: Meanwhile, North Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong-ho met with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan on Monday morning too.


text: After meeting Singapore's Prime Minister, Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo met and thanked the team at the United States embassy in Singapore and Task Force 73 at Shangri-La Hotel.


text: Trump then discussed the summit with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in in a 40-minute phone call, expressing that he is willing to take "bold decisions," while Moon said that South Koreans are praying for Trump to "create a miraculous result". He also spoke with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on the phone.


text: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a press briefing at the White House press room set up at the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach Hotel on Monday afternoon. He mentioned details of the preparations done by the US delegation and that the US is willing to offer North Korea security guarantees in exchange for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.


text: A South Korean official spoke at a closed-door press briefing held at South Korea's Korea Press Center, confirming that Moon Jae-in will not travel to Singapore to attend the summit, despite earlier speculations. Instead, South Korea sent a delegation to Singapore to monitor the summit.


text: Kim visited several of Singapore's attractions in the Central Area together with his sister, Kim Yo-jong, on Monday evening. They visited the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay, the Jubilee Bridge, and the Marina Bay Sands integrated resorts. They were accompanied by Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung, the same ministers who welcomed him at Changi Airport the previous day.


text: Retired U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman, who made a number of visits to North Korea to promote sports and developed a personal relationship with Chairman Kim over several years, announced that he would be in Singapore during the summit but would not be involved in the meeting. Rodman arrived the day before the summit. The basketball star broke down in tears live on CNN as he recounted the hostility he faced for meeting Kim Jong-un.


text: United States President Donald Trump arrived at Capella Hotel first before North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived seventeen minutes later. They started the summit at 9:05 am local time with a 12-second handshake and then participated in a one-on-one meeting, with interpreters only. Trump and Kim emerged from the one-on-one talks and walked down the corridor to the Cassia where the expanded bilateral meeting took place. Trump described the one-on-one meeting as "very very good" when asked by a reporter. When Trump was asked if he had notes of the one-on-one meeting to refer back and verify, Trump replied, "I don't have to verify because I have one of the great memories of all time".


text: Both countries' delegations proceeded to participate in an expanded bilateral meeting and a working lunch.


text: Both delegations dined together on Korean, Southeast Asian and Western dishes with ice cream, tropézienne, and dark chocolate ganache tartlet for dessert. After the lunch, Trump and Kim took a short walk together and viewed the interior of the presidential state car.


text: Subsequently, Trump and Kim signed a joint statement, titled "Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong-un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit", which Trump described as a "very important" and "comprehensive" agreement.


text: In addition to the numbered provisions, the joint statement also mentions Trump's commitment to providing security guarantees to North Korea. Follow-up negotiations between Pompeo and an undetermined high-level North Korean official are also called for by the joint statement.


text: Trump held a news conference at 16:15 local time which lasted for more than an hour. In his news conference, Trump said that further discussions will take place with North Korean officials and that he would consider visiting Pyongyang. Referring to his commitment in the Joint Statement to "provide security guarantees" to North Korea, Trump announced the end of the joint military exercises with the South Korean military, which he described as "provocative". U.S. Forces Korea and South Korea were apparently not consulted. He expressed his hope that the removal of 32,000 American troops defending South Korea would become part of the equation. The next round of joint military exercises was scheduled for late August.


text: On June 12, Trump left Singapore from Paya Lebar Air Base at around 18:30 local time, earlier than his planned departure time of 19:00 while Kim Jong-un left Singapore from Changi Airport at around 22:30.


text: Upon returning to the United States the following day, President Trump declared that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat. On June 22, 2018, Trump provided a "Notice Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to North Korea," which extended the Executive Order 13466 of 2008 by one year, reaffirming "the current existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."


text: The summit received a mixed international reaction, with many countries expressing praise or hope for achieving a peace deal from the summit. Some commentators expressed skepticism towards the signed agreement, pointing to a history of failed past agreements and to the vague wording of the declarations. China raised the possibility of sanction relief following the summit, but Pompeo said sanction relief would only be granted after complete denuclearization. Joint-military exercises between the United States and South Korea were halted, a demand that North Korea had long made. Visitors to North Korea reported that anti-American posters, postcards, stamps and similar items were no longer sold in tourist shops.


text: On June 9, two South Korean media personnel from South Korean broadcaster KBS News were arrested for trespassing at the home of the North Korean ambassador in Singapore. KBS News subsequently issued an apology for not being cautious. The two media personnel were deported the next day on June 10.


text: On June 11, five South Korean women were arrested on Monday night for protesting outside the St. Regis Hotel where Chairman Kim and his delegation were staying. The police warned the women for violating the Public Order Act but they refused to cooperate, leading to their arrests.


text: The director of USC Korean Studies Institute David C. Kang wrote an analysis of North Korea's solution which was published in "The New York Times". Writing that the Trump administration should proceed with the necessary action items of U.S. side in order to ask North Korea to give up their Nuclear Weapons, Kang emphasized that unilateral disarmament of the DPRK would be impractical, and that a "phased" and "synchronous" approach with "step by step" negotiations would be a more reasonable way forward, with respect to the US-DPRK Joint Statement signed at the Singapore summit. The DPRK has shown eight or more types of various actions on their portion of the agreement; a moratorium on missile/nuclear tests, dismantling the Sohae atomic test and satellite launch site, the shutting down of an intercontinental ballistic missile assembly facility near Pyongyang, the returning of the remains of 55 U.S. Soldiers killed in the Korean War, the removal of domestic anti-American propaganda, and the release of three American Citizens arrested and imprisoned in the DPRK, as North Korean action items of the summit. However, the US has thus far taken only one action; the cancelling of joint military exercises between the US and South Korean Air Forces in the peninsula.


text: If the United States should complete more of its action items under the Singapore agreement, with regard to North Korea's security concerns, the North Korean government in turn may be willing to make further actions toward denuclearization.


text: North Korean minister Ri Yong-ho has claimed that the US is backtracking or has made no progress on the American side of the Singapore Summit agreement, while saying that North Korea itself has taken some measures including the cessation of nuclear and missile testing, along with the removal of a primary nuclear site.


text: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made a request for North Korea to hand over 60 to 70 percent of its nuclear arsenal within six to eight months. However, the DPRK has not yet accepted that proposal. The North Korean foreign minister released an announcement criticizing unilateral denuclearization, and Ri Yong-ho has emphasized that it is only equitable to perform a “balanced, simultaneous, step-by-step implementation” of the US-DPRK Joint Statement.


text: There are four action items in the Joint Statement, the first and second items being the renewal of North Korea–United States relations, the third item being the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the final item the recovery of American POW/MIA remains from the Korean War. Currently, there are still three American nuclear capable jets stationed in South Korea. Additionally, North and South Korea, still lacking a proper peace treaty, are still technically at war. The DPRK urged the US to guarantee the DPRK's security by a formal declaration of the ending of the Korean War, in exchange for the DPRK ending its nuclear program and forfeiting its nuclear weapons. Doug Bandow, a special assistant to former President Ronald Reagan, suggested that the US provide the DPRK with a safety framework in the form of a peace treaty, in exchange for the DPRK ending their nuclear program.


text: The DPRK government toned down aspects of its anti-American propaganda after the Singapore summit, with many anti-American posters being removed in the capital to give way to less politicized messages. The government also cancelled North Korea's annual "anti-US imperialism" rally on 27 July, a national holiday commemorating the start of the Korean War (Fatherland Liberation War in DPRK historiography).


text: On July 6–7, Pompeo travelled to North Korea for the third time to continue the negotiations with Kim Yong-chol, "a senior official who has been [North Korea's] point person in deliberations with the United States, South Korea and China". After the meeting, Pompeo said that the talks were productive and that progress had been made "on almost all of the central issues". However, North Korean state media criticized the meeting soon after, saying the U.S. had shown a "gangster-like attitude" and calling the demands of the Trump administration "deeply regrettable". Notwithstanding the stern reports, Pompeo delivered a letter from Kim to Trump, in which the latter expressed his hope for successful implementation of the US-North Korea Joint Statement and reaffirmed his will for improving the relations between the countries.


text: Pompeo announced on August 23, 2018, that he would return to North Korea the following week for the fourth round of talks. The following day, Trump tweeted that he had asked Pompeo not to make the trip because he felt "we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Concerning the cancellation of Pompeo's planned North Korea trip, Vox summarized the background based on the reports by "The Washington Post" and CNN that


text: North Korea delivered an irate letter to Pompeo and the letter was shown to Trump in the Oval Office on Friday, and Trump tweeted the cancellation of Pompeo's trip. The message from DPRK was North Korea's evident disappointment as Washington had shown no real eagerness to sign a peace treaty to end the Korean War.


text: South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke to Pompeo by telephone on August 25, urging the U.S. and DPRK to continue talks relating to denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula, in spite of concerns over the cancellation of the trip by Trump. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono revealed appreciation for Pompeo's "prompt communication” with South Korea, and said Japan would be pleased to cooperate with the U.S. for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.


text: On June 27, Pompeo said North Korea was planning to hand over presumed remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War in the near future.


text: Following Pompeo's second visit to Pyongyang, a lower ranks meeting took place on July 15 regarding the retrieving of remains of US soldiers from the Korean War. Pompeo called the talks "productive" and said the two sides had reached firm commitments on the issue. On July 27 North Korea handed over 55 boxes of human remains, thus starting to fulfill their pledge in the Singapore declaration. The remains were saluted in a ceremony in their honor by US soldiers. More than 36,000 American troops died during the Korean War, but some 7,700 remain unaccounted for, including 5,300 believed to have died in North Korea. Earlier, 220 remains were recovered during 1996–2005. North Korea reported to the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they couldn't be sure how many individuals were represented in each of the 55 boxes.


text: There was uncertainty about the nationality of the war remains, whether the individuals were American or from other countries that took part in the Korean War, such as Australia, Belgium, France, and the Philippines. Kelly McKeague, the director of the POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said a preliminary review showed that the remains are "consistent" with being American and are from the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. The next phase would be matching the dental records, X-rays and DNA testing to further analyze the remains for possible identification. McKeague expressed his opinion that North Korea needs to allow the resumption of joint U.S.-North Korean searches of battlefields and POW camp graveyards to discover more war remains as soon as practical.