welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: hand in hand — the leaders of north and south korea meet for the first summit between the two countries in more than a decade. kim jong—un becomes the first north korean leader to visit the south since the war ended 65 years ago. the two men are now locked in talks with pyongyang's nuclear ambitions expected to top the agenda. and in other news, bill cosby is found guilty of sexual assault in a retrial of charges brought against him. an historic meeting is taking place right now between north korea's kimjong—un and south korea's president,

moonjae—in. the two leaders greeted each other with a handshake at the military demarcation line that divides the peninsula. it's the first time a leader from the north has crossed into the south since the end of the korean war, 65 years ago. the summit is focusing on trying to reach a peace deal to officially end the war and persuade mr kim to give up his nuclear weapons. andrew plant starts our coverage. a north korean leader setting foot in south korea for the first time since the korean war, more than 65 years before. kim jong—un shaking hands with the president of south korea, the start of a historic meeting with international interest high, in a secretive regime that's suddenly, seemingly more accessible. this is where the two leaders are meeting. the border village of panmunjom, between their two territories. the finest details already defined.

they'll face each other across 2018mm of table, symbolising the year. and overlooking their meeting, a painting of a mount kumgang, a symbol of reconciliation designed to reflect the summit‘s slogan — peace, a new start. "we should have a positive meeting," he says, "and positive results, and going forward, we should be determined to meet more frequently, and then we can make up for lost time." the world's major powers will be watching. north korea's nuclear programme part of the focus, kim jong—un has indicated a willingness to stop testing, but will that translate to an end to its weapons programme or is this part of north korea's entrance onto the international stage as an established nuclear power? proposed talks with president trump could come in the future.

a meeting with the chinese leader has already happened. today's meeting, the result of months of improving relations between north and south, two countries still technically at war. it will end with a treeplanting ceremony, the delegates will then share a dinner. after years of increasing tension between the two countries, a relatively sudden softening and many will hope a more open and receptive north korea. andrew plant, bbc news. live to south korea, and our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes. given the history, the history of the last five or six months, this is extraordinary, even though we have to be careful about wishful thinking, raising expectations too high. that's right. i would say someone like me who have been watching this

for many years and could feeljaded and cynical about this process given the fact the previous summits have failed so often in the past, two previous residential meetings between the north on the south led nowhere. i would say watching those pictures this morning of kimjong—un coming across the border and grabbing moon jae—in‘s hand coming across the border and grabbing moonjae—in‘s hand and pulling him back onto north korea soilfor a moment, both smiling and clearly enjoying the moment and heading into their meeting, it is ha rd heading into their meeting, it is hard not to be, feel the mood of optimism and hope surrounding the opening of the summit. just for the very reason that it is so different from a few months ago when it really felt here that the peninsular might be on the verge of military conflict, and so i think the general feeling for most people watching this is it is good that this is happening, we don't know where it will go, butjust the mere fact happening, we don't know where it will go, but just the mere fact that these two leaders are sitting down ina these two leaders are sitting down in a friendly atmosphere and starting talks is a huge change from

a few months ago. this idea of denuclearisation which have been much bandied about is interpreted entirely differently depending on what side you are on. what do you think north korea wants from this? what does a south want, and what other realistic chances of getting any of that? a lot of people have been talking ahead of the summit of kim jong—un‘s commitment to denuclearisation of the peninsular. actually, he has not said that. he has said he will stop nuclear testing and missile testing and that he will dismantle the nuclear testing facilities in north korea. that is obviously good, everybody welcomes that, but it is not a commitment to the and depending on who you talk to hear in the south, there are very different opinions as to what kim jong—un‘s intentions really are. some say the economic development of the north is now his priority and so he will be prepared to negotiate his nuclear

arsenal in order to get recognition, arsenal in order to get recognition, a peace treaty and investment from the outside world, others who believe that kim jong—un now sees himself as the leader of a legitimate established nuclear state and that he has no intention of giving it up. looking at these pictures, we should remind ourselves that he has thousands and thousands of citizens still in brutal labour camps and what, barely a year ago, we think our two of his close relatives were executed, both are unlikely to be raised at these meetings. yam, it is a concern for pa rt meetings. yam, it is a concern for part of the population here in south korea, particularly the 30,000 or so defectors from the north are now live in south korea and herfamily backin live in south korea and herfamily back in the north, they certainly push the issue of human rights conditions of people in the north, but it is not a major element of the summit today, or of the political agenda for the south korean

government. what the south korean government. what the south korean government is looking for is a way to get rid of or to bring peace and rid this country, the south korean capital, seoul, which is a 50 kilometres from where i stand, to rid it of his ever present threat of destruction if a conflict ever broke out here. thank you very much for that. as we've been hearing, kim jong—un and moonjae—in have been holding a news conference. the north korean leader said the summit heralded "an age of peace" and the beginning of a "new history" for the peninsula. let's hear his longer statement. translation: we should have a positive meeting and positive results out of this meeting. and going forward, we should be determined and we should make use of as much time as possible and we should meet as often as possible. and if we can get our heads

together, then the 11 years lost can be made up. just about 200 metres, that was the crossing line and i had so many thoughts while crossing the demarcation line. and this is more like a starting line, firing the starting of the race, i should say. and if we can open our hearts to speak and if we can draw positive results from this meeting, that would be good. and instead of going back to the drawing board, we should move forward.

and if we can, hold our hands together and move forward. and i think so many talk about what is going on about the dinner party this evening, and if you could enjoy the pyongyang cold glass noodle. hope you can enjoy the pyongyang cold glass noodle. and we can talk seriously and honestly and we can talk about good things. and we need to talk about what's necessary. and i'd like to say this in front of mr president

and all the others as well. that was a recording. we shouldn't the sight of how extraordinary it is to hear him talking as he was live on tv. south korea's moon jae—in congratulated mr kim for what he called "a brave decision" to meet. translation: and i think we should celebrate the meeting between us and the spring may have arrived on the korean peninsula. and all the world watching this meeting and the people of south korea and north korea and korean compatriots all over the world, they're watching and so much burden on our shoulders between us two. you are the first one who crossed the demarcation line, mr kim,

the committee chairperson. this is like a symbol of the peace. and the expectations of all of the world are on us. and i'd like to give my thanks to the brave decision you made. and if we could make brave decisions together and then we could make a successful meeting and we have plenty of time to talk about. and if we can discuss things in detail as well. yeah, thank you.

that first session of talks have now ended. the leaders have gone back to their respect div sides for lunch. we are being told there will be a summit briefing shortly, so we are getting ready for that. we will move on to los angeles. let's get more now from curtis chin, asia fellow at the milken institute, the economic think tank based in california. curtis, you were american ambassador to the asian development bank. what do you make of it so far? beautiful words, though we need to move to see what the action is. let us move to see what the action is. let us congratulate those leaders were coming together, moving things forward. i know these countries, i know the region and we have to look

at it with a bit of scepticism. know the region and we have to look at it with a bit of scepticismm is designed to get kimjong—un at it with a bit of scepticismm is designed to get kim jong—un their face—to—face with a summit with president trump. that look more likely? absolutely. we talked about the two leaders today. it is another leader very much in that room which is president trump, and the south korean president has acknowledged there has to be credit given to the us president, the disruptions of diplomacy that has led to this today. the images are historic, a north korean leader coming into south korea. that is amazing. we turned these images into action. i think trump deserves credit for that very much. what are the chances of real action, do you think? there is one specific action which will be a summit between the us lead and the north korean leader, and that is a tremendous progress right there. this is the first time where the north koreans have said they will

talk with south korea with the us, without preconditions. in the past, my father was in the military in korea, the us military in korea. we continue to have troops there which the north koreans have long wanted out of there. those preconditions they have set in the past are no longer there. that is a great step forward already. it is pretty clear that north korea is here because it wa nts that north korea is here because it wants that summit, the leader wants to be treated as a serious leader on the international stage, a leader of a nuclear state, presumably he wants sanctions. the feeling that his regime is free from being overthrown by force, yet surely north korea has no intention of giving up the weapons it has worked for decades to acquire. it is essentially threatened itself into this position. it has given up nothing. they have given up some things for this to happen. why would they give

up this to happen. why would they give up these weapons? that is up for discussion. look at what north korea needs today, and i was pleased to see one of the earlier commentators talk about is not forget the north korean people who have long suffered under this series of regimes in north korea. what north korea needs is economic development. it only great ally, china, can develop or the needs and they will try a nudge this country or what. the reality is that china, for all of its own talk about wanting change in north korea, is probably more pleased with a somewhat more radical north korea than a unified capitalistic and democratic korea on its very borders. a lot of players in that room beyond the two korea leaders there. let's eat hopeful, it has just begun. they are at lunch now. beyond these ceremonies, there continues to be a process that will hopefully move the korean peninsula forward. thank you very much indeed.

stay with us on bbc news where we continue our special coverage of the korean summit. still to come — what do north koreans who've defected to the south make of the summit talks and the chances of peace? we'll find out. nothing it seems was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally there have already been protests, sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong, it was only when radioactive levels started to increase outside russia were they forced

to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebrations. this is the end of a 12 year war, they have taken the capital, which they have fighting for for so long. it was 7am in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the majority to the minority. when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed it's last white colony. this is bbc news. our main headline: the leaders of north and south korea are meeting for the first summit between the two countries in more than a decade. let's listen in to an official briefing taking place right by a representative of president moon following those first round of talks which havejust broken up for lunch. speaks korean.

can you hear us? can, if you could. we had a photo shoot. at the peace house. the north korean mt. what kind of painting technique is used for this painting, when we saw the painting in the hallway. it is 0riental painting and technique, that was the answer. the two leaders

came to the reception. mr moon introduced the painting. it was also the writing of kim jae—sung. it means we are communicating with each other. that kind of meaning is there. that was highlighted for us to communicate. it has a square shaped. it means the first

character. it also has kim's character. it also has kim's character at the start. that was mr moon's construction. —— instruction. iam sure, moon's construction. —— instruction. i am sure, just as you did, i started early in the morning. mr moon said, just a few kilometres away. mr kim said, i heard that you woke up early. maybe because of that meeting. when you received the

embassy areas, i think it was a very good gesture as well. mr kim, i will make sure that you don't have to wa ke make sure that you don't have to wake up early in the morning in the future. i wonder why it has been so ha rd future. i wonder why it has been so hard and so difficult to have another meeting. i thought i would meet you in pyongyang but i think this is better. the place of conflict. that's how we came about. the people who lost their home towns, and the refugees. they may be worried about when the north korean bombs would drop on them in the

past. hopefully this south korea, north korea can make good progress. mr moon. so many people lined up on the streets to send me off to panmunjom. the village residents came to have a photo. so if we could have meetings in pyongyang as well. the pictures, one was from a nearby

waterfall. i haven't been back to the mountain myself, mr moon said, but so many tourists had been to the mountain byway of the chinese border. mr kim said, if you can come to north korea, the traffic system is not that good. people who visited said, the transport system is well advanced, i was told. it might be embarrassing for us to host with the poorfunctioning embarrassing for us to host with the poor functioning transport system. that is my warrior, mr kim said.

this south korea and north korea have a great connection, you may be a will to use it. that was written down in the agreement of the 15th of june last year and that kind of talk has not carried on. that is a pity. 0nce has not carried on. that is a pity. once again, we came to meet each other. it is a very positive side. we haven't carried out the outcome ten, 11 years ago. but taking a short work, i was thinking it took almost 11 years and although we

haven't done anything in the past ten years, maybe for the past 100 days we made such big progress. with the letters and ms areas, we could build trust between us. kim jong—un pointing to mr kim's sister, missed a mood —— mr moon said she has become such a star in south korea. today's stars are you and me, that is what mr moon said. in the end,

the agreement was at the end of the term but for us, for me, it's at the start of the term. hopefully we can continue the progress. it appears the catchphrase, 10,000 miles between the hosts, so we could continue with a good running horse. if we could continue this push, it would be great. mr kim said, we can meet often. let's make a better word

for the future. mr moon said, i heard that north korea, you had a big disaster. the big disaster which happened in north korea recently. mr kim said, i came here to end the hostilities and the conflict. that's why i came here. i'm positive that will a better future for the countries. the issues and the problems on the korean peninsula, we are responsible to resolve the issues. and allow surrounding

countries to follow, to help us. thank you. thank you. any questions?