US President Donald Trump and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un shook hands and smiled as they started a historic summit on Tuesday, after both sides sought to narrow differences over how to end a nuclear standoff.
After a 41-minute one-on-one meeting, they entered wider talks attended by their top leaders in Singapore.
"Working together we will get it taken care of," Trump told Kim at the start of the wider meeting. "We will solve it."
"Nice to meet you Mister President," Kim said as he sat alongside Trump, against a backdrop of DPRK and US flags, beaming more broadly as the US president gave him a thumbs up. Trump said he was sure they would have a "terrific relationship".
With cameras of the world's press trained on them, Trump and Kim displayed an initial atmosphere of bonhomie.
"I feel really great," Trump said. "It's gonna be a great discussion and I think tremendous success. I think it's gonna be really successful and I think we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt."
Kim replied: "Well, it was not easy to get here. The pasthas ... placed many obstacles in our way but we overcame all of them and we are here today."
Both men looked serious as they got off their limousines for the summit at the Capella hotel on Singapore's Sentosa, a resort island with luxury hotels, a casino, manmade beaches and a Universal Studios theme park.
But they were soon smiling and holding each other by the arm, before Trump guided Kim to the library where they held a meeting with only their interpreters.
For both men, the summit, the first between leaders of DPRK and the US, is likely to be a defining momentof their careers.
Staff-level meetings between the United States and DPRK were going "well and quickly," Trump said in a message on Twitter on Tuesday.
But he added: "In the end, that doesn't matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!"
After the one-on-one with only their translators at their sides, Trump and Kim will attend a larger meeting and a working lunch attended by Trump's chief of staff, national security adviser and secretary of state, the White House said, along with some of their DPRK counterparts.