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
1/20Open hostilities between the United States and North Korea date back to 1950, when war erupted on the Korean peninsula against the backdrop of a growing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, which along with China came to North Korea's aid.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
2/20U.S. marines during a street-battle in Seoul in 1950. The conflict began after communist North Korea invaded the south, and U.S. forces led a UN-backed effort to support South Korea.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
3/20When the Korean War ended in a stalemate and with Soviet-backed Kim Il Sung (center) in charge, the “Hermit Kingdom” pursued a policy of “all-fortressization,” prioritizing military development over popular well-being.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
4/20The North Korean regime justified the race toward military might by portraying (through propaganda like this painting) a brutish America as a lurking threat.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
5/20After the death of Kim Il Sung in 1994, his son Kim Jong Il (pictured, right) took over a regime that was a menace mostly to its own people. But the situation was about to become more dangerous.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
6/20U.S. President Bill Clinton reacts to a question after discussing reports that North Korea had developed a secret underground nuclear complex.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
7/20Throughout the '90s, even as famine racked the country, North Korea’s secret, and vastly expensive, nuclear-weapons program was developing apace.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
8/20Then, in 2006, North Korea gave China 20 minutes' warning before detonating its first underground nuclear weapon.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
9/20Despite negotiating several acts of apparent “good faith,” like this demolition of a cooling tower at a plutonium-producing reactor in 2008, the international community seemed unable to stop North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles needed to carry them.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
11/20...but son and successor Kim Jong Un reportedly kept the communist country firmly on course for its goal of a long-range, nuclear-capable missile.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
12/20In 2017, a flurry of successful missile tests sparked the ire of new U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
13/20In August, Trump vowed "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if Kim continued to threaten the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
14/20
Kim inspecting what North Korean media claimed was a hydrogen bomb small enough to be slotted into an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The North Korean leader doubled down, responding to Trump's challenge by threatening U.S. territory (Guam) with “an enveloping fire.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
15/20Then, in moves that took the world by surprise, Kim met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in...
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
17/20...extended an invitation (though an envoy) to meet with Trump...
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
19/20The U.S. president's motorcade rolling through central Singapore on June 11. Trump indicated the meeting might only be the start of a process to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
20/20But most people hope the meeting will bring at least improved relations and de-escalation, or maybe -- as this Singapore bar-owner has called his new cocktail -- a bromance.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were convening in Singapore for a historic summit to discuss security disputes, Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program, and the six-decade-old division of the Korean Peninsula. So how did we get here?
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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."
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un leave after signing documents that acknowledge the progress of the talks and pledge to keep momentum going, after their summit in Singapore on June 12.
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.
