Trump, Kim shake hands to open momentous summit

World Today

Trump Kim imagaU.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump shook hands in front of cameras at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, as the historic meeting officially gets underway on Tuesday.

It is the first-ever meeting between a DPRK leader and a sitting U.S. president.

The leaders are expected to discuss the denuclearization of the DPRK and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula among other issues of mutual concern.

The two sides seemed optimistic about the meeting, as the world waits with bated breath for the outcome of the high-stakes summit.

Standing on a red carpet in front of a row of alternating U.S. and DPRK flags, the leaders shook hands warmly at a Singapore island resort. They then moved into a one-on-one meeting, joined only by their interpreters.

“We are going to have a great discussion and I think tremendous success. We will be tremendously successful,” Trump said.

Speaking through an interpreter, Kim said: “It wasn’t easy for us to come here. There was a past that grabbed our ankles and wrong prejudices and practices that at times covered our eyes and ears. We overcame all that and we are here now.”

Trump and Kim planned to meet one on one for most of an hour— joined only by interpreters. Then aides to each were to join for more discussions and a working lunch. But even before they met, Trump announced plans to leave early, raising questions about whether his aspirations for an ambitious outcome had been scaled back.

Story by CGTN with additional information from The Associated Press.