U.S. President Donald Trump says the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will start "very quickly" after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which he says was a "tremendous success."
Trump and Kim signed an unspecified document after a 45-minute face-to-face meeting and broader talks between their delegations at a luxury hotel on Singapore's Sentosa island on June 12.
Trump called it a "very important" and "pretty comprehensive" document but refused to elaborate, saying just that "both sides are going to be impressed with the result." The document is set to be given to reporters later.
Trump announced he would hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. local time, while Kim reportedly left the island to return home.
The summit was the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
Tensions between the United States and North Korea escalated last year after Pyongyang tested several ballistic missiles and performed a nuclear test, while Kim and Trump traded threats and insults.
PHOTO GALLERY: North Korea's Road To The Nuclear Club (CLICK TO VIEW)
North Korea's Road To The Nuclear Club
But at the beginning of this year, Kim launched an unexpected diplomatic offensive, which included the North's attendance at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Trump on June 1 said he would hold a summit with Kim on June 12 in Singapore. Trump had originally agreed to the summit, then called it off before reviving it again.
As the two leaders wrapped up their summit, Trump said he and Kim had "developed a very special bond" during their day together, while Kim told reporters that the two "decided to leave the past behind and the world will see a major change."
Trump said the denuclearization of the North will occur "very, very quickly."
Asked whether he would invite the North Korean leader to the White House, Trump said: "Absolutely, I will."
“This is going to lead to more and more and more,” Trump said.
Earlier, at the end of their 45-minute meeting, Trump said the summit had gone "better than anybody could have expected" and called it a "tremendous success."
"We will solve a big problem, a big dilemma that until this point has been unable to be solved. I know that working together, we will get it taken care of," Trump said.
After the two leaders met, they had another bilateral meeting with their staff that lasted about an hour and a half before they proceeded to lunch together at the luxury resort on Sentosa.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signaled on June 11 that the Trump administration didn't expect an immediate breakthrough at the Trump-Kim meeting, but rather hoped it would create an opening for more extended negotiations.
"We are hopeful this summit will have set the conditions for future successful talks," Pompeo said.
Pompeo said the summit should set the framework for "the hard work that will follow," insisting that North Korea had to move toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.
