SINGAPORE—Even by the standards of this efficient and ultramodern city-state, hosting the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a big ask.
A stream of Singapore government notices over recent days has offered clues on logistical and diplomatic preparations that have for the most part taken place out of the public eye.
Authorities have designated zones around two high-end hotels, including the Capella Hotel on a resort island chosen as the summit venue, as “special event areas” that are subject to stricter security measures, including a ban on drone flights and curbs on maritime traffic.
Temporary restrictions will apply to Singapore airspace and the government also exempted four black BMW armored sedans—to be used for the summit—from certain traffic laws.
Singapore’s foreign minister, meanwhile, conducted some shuttle diplomacy this week, flying to Washington for meetings with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, before embarking upon a hastily arranged trip to Pyongyang via Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The summit has captured the imaginations of Singaporeans, who have set social media alight. Digitally altered images shared online showed Messrs. Trump and Kim posing at city landmarks.
“It’s a good thing. Probably it will create just more good things for Singapore,” Shirley Goh, a 34-year-old business manager at a local bank, said of the summit.
Private businesses are looking to capitalize on the meeting with promotional tie-ins. The city’s mint released a commemorative coin, featuring the U.S. and North Korean flags on one side, with a dove and the words “World Peace” on the other.
Singapore has hosted many international gatherings, including the 2009 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and an annual security forum that attracts top defense officials from Asia and the West. In 2015, the leaders of China and Taiwan met in Singapore—the first such encounter since Communist forces forced the Nationalist government off the Chinese mainland in 1949.
But the Trump-Kim summit will overshadow all others. More than 2,500 journalists have registered to cover the meeting, according to the Singapore government.
Singapore is well-placed to host such an event on short notice. It is among the world’s safest cities, with a government that keeps close tabs on its citizens—from its dense network of police video surveillance to its infamous ban on the sale of chewing gum.
Protests of any sort, whether targeting Messrs. Trump or Kim, aren’t likely. Under Singapore law, even a single demonstrator can be deemed an illegal assembly.
Singapore is also perceived to be an honest broker in international affairs, which makes it a good neutral venue. In 2008, it hosted negotiators from the U.S. and North Korea for talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
“Singapore was probably not a first choice for Trump or Kim. At the same time, [it] was likely an acceptable strategic second choice for both sides—based on diplomatic ties and security and safety concerns that Singapore uniquely addresses,” said Jasper Kim, director of the Center for Conflict Management at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
The summit venue—which the White House said Tuesday would be the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island—is a 112-room luxury resort featuring modern villas and colonial-era buildings built in the 1880s to house British military officers and their families.
As for hosting a full-blown U.S. presidential delegation, which can include hundreds of people, there are few hotels that are capable.
The Shangri-La, the Fullerton and St. Regis—among those regarded as suitable for accommodating the U.S. or North Korean teams—have been fully booked for the nights around the summit.
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In 2009, President Barack Obama stayed at the Shangri-La for the APEC summit. Mr. Trump is set to stay there, too, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Shangri-La, the host site of the annual security forum, is in a high-end residential neighborhood where security forces can easily control access and maintain strategic vantage points, said Ong Kok Leong, chief operating officer of Secura Group Ltd., a Singapore-based security company.
The Fullerton has hosted North Korea’s nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam in the past, according to a person familiar with the matter. An advance team of North Korean officials stayed there last week.
The Fullerton and St. Regis declined to comment, while the Shangri-La didn’t respond. Fernando Gibaja, the Capella’s general manager, said the hotel was fully booked until June 16.
Questions remain about who will foot the bill for the North Koreans’ stay in Singapore. A State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. isn’t paying for the North Korean delegation’s expenses.
The Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said it would gladly pick up Pyongyang’s tab, but said later that none of the relevant governments had taken it up on its offer.
Singapore’s defense minister told reporters over the weekend that the city-state was willing to bear some logistical and security costs, without elaborating.
Mr. Trump and his entourage are likely to use a military air base rather than the city’s main airport to minimize security issues and disruption to travelers, said Mr. Ong, the security expert.
A summit outside the Korean Peninsula poses logistical challenges for Mr. Kim, whose first known trip abroad as leader was in March, when he visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. He traveled by train. He is known to have flown internationally just once as leader—to the Chinese city of Dalian in May.
Though the range of Mr. Kim’s personal jet—an Ilyushin Il-62 designed in the 1960s—is enough to get him to Singapore, Mr. Kim doesn’t travel light. For his Dalian trip, Mr. Kim and his plane were accompanied by a Soviet-designed Il-76 cargo jet capable of carrying more than 40 tons of payload, which appeared to include a luxury car.
—Jake Maxwell Watts and Saurabh Chaturvedi contributed to this article.
Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com, P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com and Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com
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