Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore before the first-ever DPRK-U.S. summit, on June 12, 2018. (Xinhua/The Straits Times)
SINGAPORE, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump shook hands and started the first-ever DPRK-U.S. summit Tuesday.
Kim and Trump entered the venue separately at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's resort island of Sentosa.
The two leaders shook hands for a few seconds with a row of the two nations' national flags in the background.
"This is just a new beginning," said Trump while shaking hands with Kim in a sober look.
Kim, dressed in a dark suit, and Trump, sporting a red tie, talked at a corner in the corridor for a few minutes, before they walked along the passage into the meeting room and sat down in front of journalists.
"The way coming here was not easy," said Kim.
The DPRK leader said he and Trump came here after overcoming "all the obstacles" such as old prejudice and practices that had stood in their way forward.
Predicting a tremendous success of the summit with the DPRK leader, Trump said that it was "an honor" to meet face-to-face with Kim and that he would have "a terrific relationship" with the DPRK leader.
After shaking hands again with Kim in front of cameras, Trump gave a thumbs-up before starting the first meeting between an incumbent U.S. president and a DPRK leader.
The two leaders then met one-on-one for up to an hour with only their translators at their sides, before joining their entourages for a larger meeting and a working lunch.
Since taking over his country's leadership in late 2011, Kim had made only three known trips to foreign countries before the Singapore visit. He traveled to China twice and to the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom.
