Historic handshake: Kim, Trump face off at Singapore summit (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump have made history by shaking hands with each other at a top-level summit in Singapore, paving the way for reconciliation and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Kim arrived first at the Capella Resort, on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, shortly before 9 am local time. He ignored the cameras, walking into the hotel with eyeglasses in hand. Trump followed a few minutes later, turning to face the cameras with a carefully neutral expression before he entered the venue.

The historic handshake of the two leaders before a row of US and North Korean flags took place at 9:04. Trump smiled and patted Kim on the back, ushering him towards the conference room. Trump said earlier he would know whether the summit would succeed within the first few minutes of meeting with Kim.

© Jonathan Ernst © Reuters

“We will have a great relationship, I have no doubt,” Trump said in a brief photo-op.

"Past practices and prejudices were obstacles on our way forward, but we overcame all of them and are here today," Kim said. “That’s true,” quipped Trump.

The two met in private at first, accompanied only by their translators. After less than an hour, however, reporters were called in to take photos of an expanded format meeting. White House chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and national security adviser John Bolton sat on Trump’s side of the table.

“We will solve a big problem, a big dilemma,” Trump could be heard as saying at the lunch, adding that the meeting with Kim was “very, very good.”

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