Trump and Kim Sign Joint Statement in Singapore, Pledge Denuclearization Without Details

SINGAPORE, June 12 - President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a joint statement on Tuesday after the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Kim reaffirmed what the document calls his "firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

The summit opened at about 9 a.m. local time at the Capella hotel on Sentosa island with a handshake, then a one-on-one session with only interpreters present. Delegations joined for a working lunch. PBS reported that the talks ran roughly five hours.

The statement has four parts. The two countries commit to establishing new relations, to building "a lasting and stable peace regime" on the peninsula, and to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and troops missing in action, including the immediate return of those already identified. On the nuclear issue, North Korea reaffirms the Panmunjom Declaration it signed with South Korea on April 27. Trump committed to provide security guarantees. Follow-on talks led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a senior North Korean official are to be held "at the earliest possible date."

The document sets no timetable and does not say how disarmament would be checked. It does not address ending the formal state of war from the 1950-53 conflict, which closed with an armistice, not a treaty.

At a news conference that began at 4:15 p.m., Trump said the United States would stop its "war games" with South Korea while talks go on, describing the freeze as a cost-saving measure. Trump also said Kim agreed to destroy a major missile engine testing site, a commitment that does not appear in the signed text. Pompeo said sanctions will stay in place until North Korea denuclearizes.

Of the meeting, Trump said: "From the beginning, we got along." Kim said the two sides "decided to leave the past behind," according to PBS. Trump said he raised human rights "strongly" and that Kim accepted an invitation to the White House.

Why it matters: The statement is light on specifics and largely repeats earlier commitments, including the language of the April Panmunjom Declaration, which has drawn criticism for being weak on detail. Critics also say the meeting gives Kim international standing without anything concrete in return.

The test now is whether Pompeo's team and North Korean officials can turn a short page of commitments into steps that can be counted.