we're looking at a live picture of the capella hotel on sentosa island in singapore of course that's for u.s. president donald trump is expected to hold a news conference any moment and we'll bring that to you live. and richelle carey this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up i'll shop and kim jong un write a new history a new chapter rather in history in developed a truck calls a very special beyond. the really is a. lot of progress really really probably better than anybody getting it right

is president gives us his thoughts after his first face to face meeting with the north korean leader. that extraordinary encounter was watched by millions of people around the world including south korea's president. thank you for joining us here on al-jazeera for continuing coverage of that summit in singapore again this is the live picture at the capella hotel on sentosa island u.s. president on the trumpet any moment is expected to come to that podium and have a news conference to perhaps give us further detail on what happened in the forty minutes that he spent alone with the north korean leader kim jong un we're going to talk to our white house correspondent kimberly how and just a moment first though adrian brown looks at the historic summit between the two leaders. no one was quite sure what to expect from this summit.

if people very wary of the very. issue it was a day late and with history kim jong un seemed almost over ruled by the occasion for a time the watching world wasn't even sure what he and president trump was signing . back to one in this diplomatic drama that began almost five hours earlier with a handshake that may have changed the course of history. president donald trump it said peik no within a minute of meeting kim jong un if he'd get on with him so this was the moment he began sizing him up. the start perhaps of an improbable relationship in improbable times. to nuclear armed leaders one of former real estate developer and reality t.v. star the other an international pariah. and it's going. through all that. they're speaking through an interpreter kim jong un said the way

here had not been easy. but it was. the old practices and prejudices worked against us but we are here now. they met at nine am local time in singapore so prime time viewing in the united states experts around the world will be studying these images frame by frame looking for a deeper meaning excellent relationship but no answers to questions about whether kim will give up his nuclear weapons it is only a few months ago that these two leaders were hurling insults at one another and threatening nuclear annihilation but kim who for security reasons has barely stepped out of his country since becoming leader spent just under forty minutes in a room with the u.s. president with just their interpreters present that years. later the two leaders were joined by their advisers so far so good. trump predicting that the two

would have tremendous success kim told him that the past had held the two sides back a bit these talks reprise due to peace but it's going to take more than just one meeting to realize the verifiable irreversible destruction of the north's huge nuclear arsenal and kim wants something else a guarantee that the u.s. will not try to topple him if he disarms. but in the garden all seemed amicable as the two leaders strolled and talked together probably only going right now or something before that it was something trump was keen to kim to see the inside of his official limousine known is the beast. some worry that this is storage moment is eclipsing north korea's harsh human rights history you know this is a fundamental freedom this is a principle of human existence and you know for donald trump to say that kim jong

un is now a nice guy when he's got one hundred twenty thousand people in gulags in the mountains is just not a. few diplomatic encounters have been so eagerly anticipated the question now is whether all this will prove to be more than just a photo opportunity adrian brown al-jazeera singapore. is taking on to our white house correspondent kimberly halkett who is in sentosa island in singapore where the meetings were held and she's actually standing by waiting for us president ronald trying to come to the podium and give us a press conference kimberly the little bit that we've already seen the two men and signing this agreement. donald trump same fairly happy with how things have gone are we expecting to get any more details out of him even any specifics about this agreement because let's be honest that the press got that from zooming in very very to the very very small print he hasn't officially said yet what was in this

agreement. no he has not and so the devil is always in the details and that is what we are waiting for us president this hotel that i'm at right now in this auditorium is where this historic encounter between the north korean leader and the u.s. president took place it's happened to all of this and we are awaiting what the u.s. president has promised will be three comprehensive. this is about to begin. some sort of. takes to. try to speak over this audio. as we have to. because this is an understanding and a starting point there's no question that. he wanted to. you remember there was a time when he even said he made. the conditions are clearly. that he did

not walk out of the room instead the two leaders sat down and they established a relationship but it appears they're now moving forward in terms of that document we are told that will get copies to the president. there is one now out. it doesn't seem to promise what the president says the united states is the security in exchange for the promise commitment to leave. so certainly this is the beginning of a dialogue the u.s. president obviously. what are. as you can tell a bit difficult to hair can't believe there is this presentation began in the backs of we will go back to her in a moment also where she is standing by is waiting for us president donald trump to come to the podium to get this press conference so we have got that on one side so in the meantime let's bring in our diplomatic editor james frey's who has been in

singapore covering all of this lots of moving parts here james this this press conference as it is a little delayed now but it's still earlier than it was originally planned the two men are departing earlier than that originally planned what is it that things are at least as they perceive it are going really really well. well it's interesting you see the white house is saying this is a comprehensive statement saying it's a historic statement i think it's definitely true this was a historic meeting to think where we were a year ago with the threat of nuclear war a war between these two people and the fact that they have met the first time a u.s. leader in a north korean leader of men in the same place since the founding of north korea almost seventy years ago absolutely this is historic in terms of what they've actually agreed on which is a very short joint statement there's not

a lot new in that and certainly not anything historic in it so what do we judge it by president. so that the minimum would be to get a good meeting and get on with kim trump and kim seemed to get all that was certainly smiling images and even trump showing kim his limousine is limousines something we wouldn't expect to see so i'm not level it's it's been it's been a success but then judge it by what secretary of state pomp aoe said about twenty four hours ago and he said that we had time to make rose ation but the problem in the past as we haven't had the the word in the very. affordable we have to get that word in verifiable well i've looked through the document which has not been officially released but of course we've obtained because donald trump held it up and we all photographed it so we were able to read it was in it the void verifiable is not there the key word according to the u.s. secretary of state is very much been the point man in all of this to have the first two meetings with him you know james. meetings like this could have taken place

some time ago north korean leaders have in the past wanted to have meetings with the president of the united states and there's a reason that that has not happened what do we make of the fact that really what seems to have happened is a a meeting with very few actual concrete things agreed to to even get to this stage at which it's kind of been done backwards. yeah absolutely there is a reason why meetings like this have not happened in the past previous presidents have felt that that was a very very big reward to the north koreans and before you gave them a meeting like this you needed them to come up with something up front the other reason they would be very wary to be photographed with any of the three north korean leaders who have run that country. and now the current kim

is because north korea has a very very bad human rights record it is a pariah country for a reason and that's because it locks up thousands of its citizens many thousands in . and has absolutely no freedom a tall and is totally isolated from the west rest of the world. trump made no mention whatsoever of human rights and he could at one point have said of course we have our disagreements and we will continue to push the north koreans on human rights he could have just dropped that in somewhere it wasn't mentioned once not once once not. all right james space stay close will come back to you shortly so all of these developments of course are watched closely in south korea with local media billing this summit as the talks of the century president and watch the broadcast live in his office ahead of a cabinet meeting he met him for the first time in april and what was only the third time leaders of the two koreas have met and wish the singapore summit success

. the north korea united states summit has no just begun probably all of the attention of our people is on singapore i too could hardly sleep last night i join all the people in hoping for the success of the summit to bring complete denuclearization and peace to us and i'm sure in a new era among the two koreas and the united states. millions in south korea have also been glued to their televisions to watch the summit people applauded the meeting between the two leaders watching in disbelief as they shook hands and said it was a good sign and a positive step towards unification so let's take a look at how the international community has reacted to this summit japan's prime minister said he hopes the meeting will bring progress and that north korea could have a bright future if it moved in the right direction australia's foreign minister hoped north korea would become a law abiding nation that don't longer presents a threat to the world china says the summit creates a new history

a foreign minister weighing urged folding nuclearization on the peninsula emphasizing that china will play an important role in that process. the u.s. and north korea have been contradictory and even hostile to each other for more than half a century today the fact that the two leaders can sit together and conduct equal dialogue itself has a major and positive significance and is creating a new history china of course supports it because this is exactly what we look forward to and what we have been endeavoring for we hope the leaders of the two countries will get rid of interferences overcome difficulties and will be able to reach a basic consensus on the denuclearization of the peninsula and the establishment of his security mechanism on the plane so we hope they can make an important step towards this who of course who would like to see all relevant parties making their efforts in this regard china will continue to play our constructive role. for and joins us live now from beijing in florence it seems for quite some time china has

been really the only friend i guess if we can use that word that north korea has had so what is the reaction from china. well china i think has been seen playing a role that it hadn't really bargained for playing the role of observer sidelined from this summit taking place this is despite the fact that it is as you mentioned a very close ally of north korea also seen by some as a defender of north korea when it stood up and opposed u.n. sanctions on north korea for its nuclear and missile tests or at least it did that until late last year and now it finds itself having to play the role of observer but publicly the chinese government have said that they are very supportive of what's taking place in singapore and that they this is something that china has wanted all along especially if it's going to bring about the denuclearization of the korean peninsula but it i think it would be fair to say that the chinese

leadership would be watching developments in singapore with some degree of concern as well and this is because we know that the documents signed between trump and kim talks among other things about the reestablishment of relations between north korea and us and what could this mean and where would this leave china now and china used to have really good relations with north korea we've seen that relationship cool over the past few years when kim jong il and that young leader took over from his father. all right florence louie live for us in beijing florence thank you. all. ok and as we can see right now the reason we pause there is because u.s. president donald trump is indeed as you can see making his way to the podium to give a press conference after his meeting with the north korean leader kim jong il so let's let's listen. to go back at

a tremendous. twenty four hours we've had a tremendous three months actually because this has been going on for quite a while and that was a tape that we gave to chairman kim and his people his representatives and captures a lot captures what could be done and that's a great a great place has a potential to be an incredible place between south korea if you think about it in china it's got tremendous potential and i think he understands that he wants to do what's right and it's my honor today to address the people of the world following this very historic summit with chairman kim jong il of north korea spent very intensive hours together and i think most of you have gotten the signed document or you will very shortly it's very comprehensive it's going to happen i stand before you as an emissary of the

american people to deliver a message of hope and vision and a message of peace let me begin by thanking our incredible host in singapore especially prime minister lee friend of mine this is a country of profound grace and beauty and we send our warmest wishes to every citizen of singapore to really made this visit so important and so pleasant spite all of the work at all of the long hours i also want to thank president moon of south korea he's working hard in fact i'll be speaking to him right after we're french. prime minister abhi of japan friend of mine just left our country and he wants what's right for japan and for the world good man and a very special person president xi of china who has really

closed up that border maybe a little bit less so over the last couple of months but that's ok but he really has and he's a terrific person and a friend of mine and really a great leader of his people i want to thank them for their efforts to help us get to this very historic day most importantly i want to thank chairman kim for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people are unprecedented meeting the first between an american president and a leader of north korea proves that real change is indeed possible my meeting with chairman kim was honest direct and productive we got to know each other well in a very confined period of time under very strong strong circumstance we're prepared to start a new history and we're ready to write

a new chapter between our nations nearly seventy years ago think of that seventy years ago an extremely bloody conflict ravaged the korean peninsula countless people died in the conflict including tens of thousands of brave americans yet while the armistice was agreed to the war never ended to this day never ended but now we can all have hope that it will soon end and it will it will soon and the past does not have to define the future yesterday's conflict does not have to be tomorrow's war. and as history has proven over and over again adversaries can indeed become friends we can honor the sacrifice of our forefathers by replacing the horrors of battle with the blessings of peace and that's what we're doing and that's what we have done there is no limit to what

north korea can achieve when it gives up its nuclear weapons and embraces commerce and engagement with the rest of the world that really wants to engage chairman kim has before him an opportunity like no other to be remembered as the leader who ushered in a glorious new era of security and prosperity for his people chairman kim and i just signed a joint statement in which he reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula we also agreed to vigorous negotiations to implement the agreement as soon as possible and he wants to do that this is in the past this isn't another administration that never got it started and therefore never got it done chairman kim has told me that

north korea is already destroying a major missile engine testing site that's not in your signed document we agreed to that after the agreement was signed that's a big thing for the missiles that they were testing the site is going to be destroyed very soon today is the beginning of an arduous process our eyes are wide open but peace is always worth the effort especially in this case they should have been done years ago they should have been resolved a long time ago. but we're resolving it now chairman kim has the chance to seize an incredible future for his people anyone can make war but only the most courageous can make peace the current state of affairs cannot endure forever the people of korea north and south of profoundly talented industrious and

gifted these are truly gifted people they share the same heritage language customs culture and destiny but to realize their amazing destiny to reunite their national family the menace of nuclear weapons will now be removed in the meantime the sanctions will remain in effect we dream of a future where all koreans can live together in harmony where families are reunited and hopes are reborn and where the light of peace chases away the darkness of war this bright future is winner within and this is what's happening it is right there it's within our reach it's going to be there it's going to happen people thought this could never take place it is now taking place it's a very great day it's a very great moment in the history of the world and chairman kim is on

his way back to north korea and i know for a fact as soon as he arrives he's going to start a process that's going to make a lot of people very happy and very safe so it's an honor to be with everybody today the media it's a big gathering of media i will say makes me feel very uncomfortable. but it is what it is people understand that this is something very important to all of us including yourselves and your family so thank you very much for being here will take some questions while a lot of questions go ahead here. n.b.c. president two questions for you first the man you met today him as you know has killed family members has starved his own people is responsible for the death of. why are you so comfortable calling him very talented well he's very talented anybody that takes over

a situation like he did at twenty six years of age and is able to run it and run it tough i don't say he was nice or i don't say anything about it he ran it very few people at that age you can take one out of ten thousand probably couldn't . ato warm beer is a very special person and he will be for a long time in my life his parents are good friends of mine i think without auto this would not have happened something happened from that day it was a terrible thing it was brutal but a lot of people started to focus on what was going on including north korea i really think that otto is someone who did not die in vain i told this to his parents. special young man and i have to say special parents' special people otto did not die in vain he had a lot to do with speaking out today ok thank you very much that question for you

there was on the security second question. for instance you talked about in your statement can you be specific about what assurances you are willing to give to kim jong il does that include reducing military capabilities i just don't like your answer no we're not readers are going to thing we're not reduce at some point i have to be honest that i've used to say this during my campaign as you know probably better than most. i want to get our soldiers out i want to bring our soldiers back home we have right now thirty two thousand soldiers in south korea and i'd like to be able to bring them back home but that's not part of the equation right now at some point i hope it will be but not right now we will be stopping the war games which will save us a tremendous amount of money on a lesson until we see that the future negotiation is not going along like it should but we'll be saving a tremendous amount of money plus i think it's very provocative. yes john

let's just go to zero go ahead i'm sorry but you were john roberts i looked at you look to see you much better right when we were four years mr president. mr president this joint statement does not talk about verifiable or irreversible you could resist that a concession on the part of the united no not at all because if you look at it i mean it said we are going to. lead say here it will be gone a week i don't think you can be any more plain than what we're what we're asking and issues related the establishment of the new u.s. relations the building. we talk about the guarantees that we talk about unwavering commitment to the complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula this is the document that we just you discussed with chairman kim methods to verify either with the united states or international organization that very

process that yes we do yes we do it and we'll be verifying yeah we'll be verifying it'll be verified well it's going to be achieved by having a lot of people there and as we develop a certain trust and we think we have done that secretary pump a has been really doing a fantastic job his staff everybody as we do that we could have a lot of people there and we're going to be working with them won a lot of other things but this is complete d. nuclearization of north korea and it will be verify the americans or international a combinations about combinations of and we have talked about it yes you have to have in eyes. respectful respectful sir. what did kim jong un say to you to give you the confidence that for once in the history of north korea they are not cheating the system and gaming the world and

gaming. the people who will have to go in and make sure that they are actually giving up their nuclear arsenal i mean very fair question if we he actually mentioned the fact that they proceeded down a path in the past and ultimately as you know nothing got done in one case they took billions of dollars during that clinton regime took billions of dollars and nothing happened that was a terrible thing and he actually brought it up to me and he said we have never gone this far i don't think they've ever had the confidence frankly in a president that they have right now for getting things done and having the ability to get things done and he was very firm in the fact that he wants to do this i think he might want to do this as much or even more than me because they see a very bright future for north korea so you never know right we never know but i'll tell you we signed a very comprehensive documented a and i think most of you have been given that

commit but we signed a very very comprehensive document and i believe is going to live up to that akron in fact when he lands which is going to be shortly i think that he will start that process right away and do i do i can only say that i know him for really well it's been very rhetorical as you know i think without the rhetoric it wouldn't have happened i think without other things going along i think the establishment of a new team was very important if a great team but i do i think he wants to get it done i really feel that very strongly. by this john i think you know you two guys look alike when the light is right on that the hair is very similar let me see who has better hair he's got pretty good hair ya it it's the it's the angelic glow of the backlighting mr president the mix of lots of similar. of course the didn't equalization the nuclear weapons and biological weapons and what not is one problem in north korea another

huge problem is the the horrible record that they have on human rights was that discussed at all is that something that you will tackle and yes it was discussed it will be discussed more in the future human rights what was also discussed in great detail john was the fact that you know we have and i must have had i just countless calls and letters and. wheat's anything you can do they want the remains of their sons back they want the remains of their fathers and mothers a day all of the people that got caught in to that really brutal war which took place to a large extent in north korea and. i ask for today and we got it that was a very last minute the remains will be coming back they're going to start that process immediately but so many people even during the campaign did say is there any way you can work with north korea to get the remains of my son back

when my father back so many people asked me this question and you know i said look we don't get along too well with that particular group of people but now we do and he agreed to that so quickly and so nice it was really a very nice thing and he understands it he understands it so. for the thousands and thousands i guess way over six thousand that we know of in terms of the remains. to be brought back to the p.o.w. m.i.a. issue clearly is a very important one without especially to a lot of people that are but what what do you president trump expect him to do about the human rights record regarding the north korean people right it was discussed it was discussed relatively briefly compared to de nuclearization wabi asli that's where we started and where we ended but they will be doing things and i think he wants to do things i think he wants to you'd be very surprised

a very smart very good negotiator wants to do the right thing you know he brought up the fact that in the past they took dialogue far they never went they never were like we are there's never been anything like what's taken place now but they went down the line billions of dollars was get were given and you know the following day the nuclear program continued but this is a much different time and this is a much different president in all fairness is very important to me this was one of the perhaps one of the reasons that i won i campaigned on this issue as you know very well john ok. whoever those people are i can't i cannot see you with all the lights but you don't look like either of the two yeah go ahead sure. thank you mr president first of all thank you very much appreciate it. how to tell the. peace treaty and we can go anything i say well at

a certain time i will i said that will be a day that i live very much forward to at the appropriate time and i also will be inviting chairman kim at the appropriate time to the white house i would i think it's really going to be something that will be very important and he has accepted i said at the appropriate time we want to go a little bit further down the road but what we signed today was. a lot of things are included and then you have things that weren't included that we got after the deal was signed i've done that before in my life we didn't put it in the agreement because we didn't have time and i think most of you have been headed out the agreement or soon will but i know you have not ok well if you could have those agreements passed that we just finished them just a little while ago but if you could have the agreements passed out well you'll see what we're talking about yes or go ahead i was thinking because regretfully. i think you.