

A joint statement issued by Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in after the summit said the two had confirmed their goal of achieving "a nuclear-free Korean peninsula through complete denuclearisation".

The pair did not provide any specific new measures or forge a potential breakthrough on the pledge, but the summit will be remembered for the sight of two men from nations with a deep and bitter rivalry holding each other's hands and grinning from ear to ear.

Standing at a podium next to Mr Moon after the talks ended, Mr Kim faced a wall of cameras beaming his image live to the world and declared that the Koreas are "linked by blood as a family and compatriots who cannot live separately".

Mr Kim's single step across the cracked, weathered concrete marking the Koreas' border made him the first ruler of North Korea to step on South Korean soil since the war.

The latest declaration between the Koreas, Mr Kim said, should not repeat the "unfortunate history of past inter-Korean agreements that only reached the starting line" before becoming derailed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump marked the occasion by tweeting: "KOREAN WAR TO END!"


Many will judge the summit based on the weak language on nuclear weapons. Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests last year likely put it on the threshold of becoming a legitimate nuclear power.





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"I feel like I'm firing a flare at the starting line in the moment of (the two Koreas) writing a new history in North-South relations, peace and prosperity," Mr Kim told Mr Moon as they sat at a table built so that exactly 2018mm separated them.


Mr Kim acknowledged widespread scepticism over their summit: "We have reached big agreements before but were unable to fulfil them. There are sceptical views on whether the meeting today will yield meaningful results.


Mr Kim joked that he would make sure not to interrupt Mr Moon's sleep any more, a reference to the North's drumbeat of early-morning missile tests last year.


Mr Kim said he would visit Seoul's presidential Blue House if invited.


They smiled broadly and shook hands with the border line between them. Mr Moon then invited Mr Kim to cross into the South, and said: "You have crossed into the South, but when do I get to go across?"

Mr Kim replied: "Why don't we go across now?", then grasped Mr Moon's hand and led him into the North and then back into the South.

