Last week, the President of the United States Donald Trump and the leader of the world’s most repressive regime, North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un, met in an historic and extraordinary summit in Singapore. It was the first time a sitting US President and a North Korean leader had met, and it came less than a year after the two sides had appeared on the brink of war.

Superficially, the optics looked good. Both leaders smiled, appearing to have a personal chemistry. Broad rhetorical commitments to peace, denuclearisation and change were made. Such an initiative was surely better than the warmongering language both sides had exhibited just a few months ago.

However, there are some significant concerns.

First and foremost, it would appear that, for now, the human rights crisis in North Korea was at best side-lined, at worst neglected. This has angered North Korean escapees, with one, Kim Yong-hwa, saying that it was like “stabbing the heart” of North Koreans. Jung Gwang-il, who met President Trump earlier this year, says he feels let down. Since the summit it has transpired that President Trump saluted a North Korean general, and expressed admiration for the fact that when Kim speaks, North Korean people sit up. “I want my people to do the same,” he said. Such remarks are truly appalling, even if, as President Trump subsequently claimed, they were said in jest. Gulags are no joking matter, Mr President. ......