Summary

  • US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sign an agreement in Singapore

  • North Korea "commits to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" but analysts say it has not made specific commitments

  • Mr Trump later defends what he has achieved and stuns observers by saying the US will stop war games with South Korea that infuriate the North

  • He says Mr Kim agreed to destroy a "major missile engine testing site" and that sanctions won't be lifted until progress is made on denuclearisation

  • The summit is the first time a sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader

  1. Why are human rights not on the agenda?published at 04:37 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    "They're not on the agenda because the North Koreans react so badly when the US brings them up," explains Prof Robert Kelly of Busan University.

    "Bringing up human rights has sunk previous talks with North Korea. So it's something the US says they have to hold for the future for once they get the ball rolling. But if the talks do continue, then there will be growing pressure from human rights groups that this issue has to be addressed."

    Here's a reminder of how bad the human rights situation is in North Korea.

  2. On the summit menupublished at 04:35 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Politicians need to eat too. And now we know, today's lunch isn't just hamburgers but a mixture of Western dishes with a lot of South Korean influences, including the traditional Daegu jorim, a soy-braised fish dish.

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  3. 'North Korea will do what it's done before'published at 04:31 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    "Kim Jong-un has already gotten a lot out of these talks - he's put himself on an equal footing with the US president and that will be playing very well back home," former US ambassador to South Korea told the BBC.

    "The question is: What can the US get out of the summit? Not only a promise to denuclearise - North Korea has broken those in the past. The question is can Donald Trump and his team engage Pyongyang on a basis where they can agree on a time scale of, for instance, two years. Otherwise North Korea will do what they have done before: they will just say that they will eventually get rid of the nukes and will work on how that can be done."

  4. 'Can Trump build on this?'published at 04:31 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Here's what veteran US diplomat and former ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill told the BBC:

    "Any previous president could have met with the North Korean leaders. But they haven't because the North has not stepped back from his nuclear ambitions. Trump has done it differently."

    "I suspect at the end of the day, the North Koreans will say that they will get rid of the nuclear weapons but will not say when that will happen. So that will then be the same as what we've had in previous talks with them. The question is whether President Trump can really build on that."

  5. Illustration: 'To peace!'published at 04:29 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    "To peace!": A manga-style illustration of the three leaders drawn by a South Korean illustrator.

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  6. Restarting Kaesong on the cardpublished at 04:25 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Another fruit from the April inter-Korean talks is commitment to restart the defunct Kaesong industrial complex. That’s where North Koreans used to work for South Korean firms. Shut down in 2016, there are now plans to fire the site back up again. First step, also announced some 10 days ago, is to set up a joint liaison office in Kaesong.

  7. The coin - slightly wrongpublished at 04:22 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Remember the much-mocked commemorative coin that the US released ahead of the summit?

    Not far off, but they got the sides wrong.

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  8. 'Mr Kim will you denuclearise?'published at 04:21 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    During their second walk along the white open-air corridor after their talks, Mr Kim was asked twice by journalists: “Chairman Kim, will you denuclearise?”. He did not answer.

    The third unanswered question was: “Mr. Kim, will you give up your nuclear weapons, sir?” He walked with Mr Trump, ignoring the questions.

    In the same walk, Mr Trump told reporters things were going excellently.

  9. History made in 38 minutespublished at 04:20 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    The White House has confirmed that Mr Trump and Mr Kim met in private for a total of 38 minutes.

    If you take into account time for translations, that's pretty brief.

  10. President Moon 'all smiles'published at 04:18 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    "President Moon was all smiles and nodding as he saw the handshake": South Korea's presidential office tweets:

  11. Reunions for long-lost families?published at 04:17 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    All eyes are on the Trump-Kim meeting today, but the inter-Korean talks between Pyongyang and Seoul have continued since that landmark summit in April.

    One of the big issues for those talks - the millions of Koreans still separated from loved ones by the division of the peninsula after the 1950-53 Korean War.

    Among other things, the two sides have since agreed to hold Red Cross talks aimed at holding a reunion event on 15 August. It would be the first since October 2015.

    Korean family reunionImage source, AFP
  12. No trending in North Koreapublished at 04:06 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Unsurprisingly, Twitter is all over the summit. Also unsurprisingly, few of those tweets will come from North Korea.

  13. ‘A new growth momentum’published at 04:01 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Looks like South Korean company Samsung thinks there’s a chance the inter-Korean thaw will continue. The firm’s investment subsidiary Samsung Securities last week launched a team to look into the possibility of investment in the North. The company said it wanted “longer-term perspectives” at a time when there’s “a new growth momentum”.

  14. Do North Koreans know about the summit?published at 03:58 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Yes they do. It is being reported by state media and that in itself is already quite remarkable. But they won't be reading this live page or anything like it. (But hello if anyone there is.)

    Reporters without Borders ranks the country last in its World Press Freedom Index. All news come via state media and people can be sent to prison for viewing, reading, or listening secretly to international media.

    Rodong SinmunImage source, Rodong Sinmun
    Image caption,

    The visit was front page news in North Korea

  15. Red flags for the US?published at 03:53 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    There's dismay in the US - on the political left and right - at the optics of American and North Korean flags side by side at the summit venue:

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  16. A shout-out to a summit MVPpublished at 03:51 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    She's been seen all throughout the historical morning. But who is she?

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  17. Showing respect in Korean culturepublished at 03:50 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    Minji Lee of BBC News Korean tweets:

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  18. 'Both stunning and chilling'published at 03:45 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

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  19. 'A prison state for 25 million'published at 03:43 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

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  20. A Huge Dealpublished at 03:40 British Summer Time 12 June 2018

    It's been a whirlwind of a morning here in Singapore. History made. But what that means, still unclear.

    If you're ready for a breather, take a look at our fuller explainer on how we got here, why it matters, and how ice skating (maybe) changed the world.

    Kim and Trump: A Huge Deal