Mongolia and Singapore are on a shortlist of locations for a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo reported on Wednesday.

Last Tuesday (17 April), Trump said five locations are under consideration for the planned meeting in ‘early June or before’.

A source with knowledge of the decision told JoongAng Ilbo: ‘European countries such as Switzerland and Sweden were mentioned up until now, but they have been excluded because it was determined to be difficult for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to physically get there… The United States and North Korea are holding final negotiations to choose between Singapore and Mongolia.’

The source said North Korea would still like to hold the summit in Pyongyang but if the US does not agree, it ‘has come around to the idea of reviewing Mongolia as a location’. This is because North Korea considers Mongolia, located between China and Russia, as ‘a friendly country’. Mongolia has hosted talks involving current North Korean officials and academics from Western countries, and Kim can travel there by rail on his bulletproof train.

The United States has friendly relations with Mongolia but has pointed to inadequate infrastructure in the capital of Ulanbaatar and is pushing for Singapore, according to the report.

The decision could be reached as early as this week, the source said. But an official announcement might be delayed at the request of Pyongyang until details including the date and agenda are finalised.

The source said the European countries are difficult to reach non-stop aboard the Chammae-1, a private North Korean jet converted from a Soviet aircraft. Pyongyang is said to would prefer not to have a stopover.

The 1970s-era Chammae-1 can fly stably for only up to around 5,000km. But Stockholm is around 7,200km from Pyongyang while Zurich is about 8,500km away.  But Singapore is 4,700km away from Pyongyang, which is within the range of the Chammae-1. Flights usually take about 6 hours and 30 minutes.

‘The US government had excluded countries with personal interests from the list of candidates, including South Korea, Japan and China, and afterward looked for South-East Asian countries that simultaneously met various conditions, which is why Singapore was selected,’ the source said.