It was a sunny morning in Singapore. US President Donald Trump arrived at the luxury Capella Resort located in Sentosa, an island off the southern coast of the Southeast Asian country. A few minutes later, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived at the same spot. Twelve flags, six American and six North Korean, were neatly lined up by the entrance to one of the resort's buildings. Trump walked in from the right. Kim did the same from the left. The two leaders met right in the middle of the set of flags and shook hands for 12 seconds as the photo cameras from selected media clicked incessantly. Trump and Kim exchanged pleasantries, and then left by the side from which Kim had arrived, followed by their respective interpreters right behind. The date was 12 June 2018. The local time was 9.05 am. The first summit between a sitting US president and his North Korean counterpart had begun.

The two leaders held a one-on-one meeting, with only their interpreters in attendance. This was followed by a meeting between the American and North Korean delegations, extending into a working lunch. Trump and Kim then issued a joint statement calling for new bilateral relations between their two countries, peace on the Korean Peninsula, the denuclearization of North Korea and the repatriation of US prisoner of war/ missing in action remains by North Korea. This was not exactly pathbreaking, for previous agreements between Washington and Pyongyang had already called for similar measures. But the order mattered: new bilateral relations and peace were listed before denuclearization. This was a diplomatic victory for Kim, for the United States remains North Korea's sworn enemy on paper. Its very existence and “threat” to the existence of North Korea in its current form is the main reason that Pyongyang gives to explain the development of its nuclear programme. Yet at the same time North Korea craves recognition from the United States, which it sees as the key to unlocking its economic development and international status. Indeed, North Korea is one of only a handful of countries yet to have diplomatic relations with the United States as of 2024; a failure for the Kim family that the 2018 Singapore Summit did not help reverse.