Watch History: First Handshake Between a US President and NK Leader
President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met in Singapore Tuesday morning in a historic summit.
People across the world watched as history was made as the two leaders shook hands and exchanged greetings at the start of the first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
“I am very happy to meet you here in Singapore,” Kim told Trump, according to Grabien News.
Trump also gave Kim a pat on the back as the two walked outside the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.
The leaders met for roughly five hours and Trump thanked the North Korean leader “for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people.”
“Today, we had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind,” Kim said through a translator, CNN reported. “The world will see a major change.”
The two leaders signed what the president described as a “very important” and “pretty comprehensive” document in front of reporters after their Tuesday summit.
The president did not disclose the details of what was in the document but after signing it, he held it up briefly for photographers and some of the text was visible.
“President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” read the preamble of the document, according to the New York Post.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defined security guarantees for North Korea as “sufficient certainty that they can be comfortable that denuclearization isn’t something that ends badly for them.”
Before the summit, Pompeo reassured the world that the U.S. would maintain its tight economic sanctions against North Korea until the country denuclearizes. He also threatened to increase those sanctions if diplomatic discussions did not progress positively.
The two countries also agreed to work toward “peace and prosperity,” a “stable peace” on the peninsula, to work “toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” and to commit to “recovering POW/MIA remains including the immediate reparations of those already identified.”
Trump acknowledged that denuclearization won’t happen overnight, but said, “Once you start the process it means it’s pretty much over.”
The two leaders had open and friendly body language throughout the summit, despite their rocky past.
“We learned a lot about each other and our countries,” Trump said after the summit, according to CNN. “I learned he’s a very talented man.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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