i'm babita sharma in singapore, with special coverage of the kim—trump summit. donald trump and kim jong—un donald trump and kimjong—un have met and shaken hands at the start of the historic one—day summit here in singapore. the us president and north korean leader are now set for i-to-i north korean leader are now set for 1—to—1 talks, with translators are not tensions and nuclear disarmament. the much anticipated summit follows a year of exchanging threats and many months of diplomatic twists and turns. a warm welcome to use. a significant, unprecedented moment here. and also, of course on the island of sentosa, playing host to these historic talks. about five kilometres away from where we are now. the two delegations derived, arrived, and john and made his way

into the capella hotel. followed just 80 minutes later by donald trump. it is this, the scene that we will all be talking about. ——a few. donald trump shaking hands with the north korean leader. a firm handshake between the two men and we cannot underestimate the symbolism behind the flag there, side—by—side. some thought that many, this would never happen. a totalitarian regime and an isolated region that has deplored the west and called america the archenemy. their flag flying next to the american flag and brief smiles between the two leaders there. accompanied by their translators as they then made their way into the library of the hotel foran way into the library of the hotel for an informal conversation and a much awaited photo opportunity there as they sat. i think we can show you the scene a short time ago when they sat on chairs side—by—side. making a

little eye contact, it is fair to say. concentration on both of their faces at that moment. donald trump there, leading, it seems, a choreography. putting a gesture of a hand behind the back of kimjong—un, ushering him in to the corridors of the hotel there. making their way towards that photo opportunities to pick it is. the two leaders sat side—by—side. robert kelly from pusan national university of south korea is with me. we have said that to look slightly uncomfortable, perhaps the enormity of the event dawning on them. they are both looking equal in statements ship. that is the point. it is good to see that donald trump restricting this ina to see that donald trump restricting this in a professional way, after being cajoled that the north koreans would have repercussions. is nice to

see this is being done in a statesmanlike way. he said a couple of days ago that he would know in a couple of minutes of meeting can, that means this sat. right now, it should actually be a hiring out. —— iending should actually be a hiring out. —— i ending out. i want to give the viewer is a sense of what is happening, if we can listen. the old prejudices and prejudices work as obstacles on our way forward , work as obstacles on our way forward, partly overcame all of them and we are here today. —— but we. thank you very much everybody. little tricky to decipher what was being said. donald trump saying thank you, thank you very much. i

can tell you from the latest information that kim jong—un said that it was not easy to get here to this point. he added that the old juices and practices worked as obstacles juices and practices worked as o bsta cles in juices and practices worked as obstacles in our way forward but we ove rca m e obstacles in our way forward but we overcame all of them to be here today. donald trump saying also at this moment, ifeel today. donald trump saying also at this moment, i feel great. today. donald trump saying also at this moment, ifeel great. we are going to have a great discussion and i think tremendous success. it will be, he added, to mendis was successful and they will have a terrific relationship, i have no doubt. this was the scene a short time ago. we understand now that for the bilateral meeting officially ta kes the bilateral meeting officially takes place, which we think might be in the next minutes or so, at the moment behind closed doors there is an opportunity for both men to engage in what is being known as an informal chat with their translators of. perhaps we get to the issues that they really care about. at the

very least, nuclear weapons and missiles. some kind of framework for what the next six months or year will be like. probably some personal stuff, donald trump likes golf, maybe he and kim jong—un stuff, donald trump likes golf, maybe he and kimjong—un on have some shared interests or something like that. again, if the report is what matters, and the president has emphasised that a lot, whether or not they get along is really crucial. this is it. this is the date that we talked about. the two of the meeting each other and going one—on—one. of the meeting each other and going one-on-one. i should say, dennis rodman arrived in singapore, mentioning the basketball player who has had a very high profile friendship with kim jong—un. he has had a very high profile friendship with kimjong—un. he has been seen reacting in tears to this moment. make of that what you will. 0n the serious side, of course, on this when we look at the photo opportunities —— handshake, the

photographs that will dominate the world ‘s media. there is a serious issue. a completely isolated state. the fact that the two of them are meeting is one thing, but of course it will be all about the detail. about whether or not something concrete will come out of this. what is your assessment of whether or not that will be likely and in terms, specifically about the issue of denuclearisation? i think it is unlikely today. will probably get some statement from the north koreans, they have signed statements in the past and walk away from them. trump people definitely need to walk away from this was something. the president is hyped, just a month ago we we re president is hyped, just a month ago we were talking about a mobile price of. there might have been a back channel, that resident leads with some kind of specific, concrete specifics. southern concrete than just more statements of. if he doesn't get that, if it is just the state m e nts doesn't get that, if it is just the statements i am a bit concerned that this plays into what the north koreans have wanted. coming to get fatter 0ps and not do anything and

then they take away and they got the pictures and that is a washed. kind of hoping the present get something out of it. you have been looking at how much things have changed for the regime. symbols and. couple of months ago with the inter— korean declaration, we have a fair amount of symbolism and didn't get detail. we need to get to the detail and start hammering out what the relationship is. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher

is at the summit's global media centre in singapore. i feel really great, a great discussion, a tremendous success of. to mendis was successful and it is my honour —— tremendous. we will have a terrific relationship, no doubt. it was not easy to get here. the past, the old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our

way forward, but we overcame all of them and we are here today. that's correct. thank you very much everybody. thank you 's and smiles between the two leaders a short time ago. barbara has been watching out for us. what did you make of it? yeah, i thought it was quite restrained. it seemed very highly choreographed. i suppose for good reason. mr trump meeting an enemy of many years and i guess kim jong—un feeling that even more, given that he has seen the united states as hostile for a very long time. he seemed a bit nervous. but they relaxed a bit as they were walking

towards the meeting room and began towards the meeting room and began to smile and chat a little bit. i think we are all watching so closely because clearly the emphasis we are supposed to get from this is their rapport. the fact they are opening this meeting that a one—on—one and not with a whole set of nuclear experts and advisers means that the emphasis for this meeting, at least in donald trump's mind was that this report is established rather than a detailed agreement. i think the pressure is on for them to do that and given they do speak the same language that may take a little bit more time than what they have allotted. but yeah, very much, a sense of history being made. a question of where it will lead and aware that in washington, it won't be that sort of touchy—feely response. they will be looking at what comes out of this in concrete terms was denuclearisation and relieving tensions. 0ne terms was denuclearisation and relieving tensions. one of the arms controls experts in washington said

i think quite well, we want to see that this leads to denuclearisation and to peace. but in order to get to both you have to have the common definition of those. i think they are quitea definition of those. i think they are quite a ways away from that yet, looking at steps as to what this report might lead to in terms of concrete detail. rapport. —— rapport. in time we will tell, but as far as we know so, far, but time is of the essence of. donald trump will be leaving singapore at about 7pm local time and reports that kim jong—un will be leaving here at about 2pm this afternoon. it doesn't give us much time to hammer out the exact details and maybe that is to come later on. yes. it is quite compressed given all of the hype and all of the drama, frankly that we

have been witnessing in washington to get here. it seems compressed, especially what trump said maybe one or two days, now it isn't quite a whole day. we don't —— we know there have been better and diplomats behind this is tried, with a communique, trying to close the gap on the different understandings of what it means when the americans say you need to dismantle your weapons and what it means when the north koreans say we want to be nuclear but that must be mutuals be trying to analyse the step that must be taken. north koreans want security guarantees, does that, upfront do they do need cash to denuclearisation first? there have been wide gaps. we will see how far they have come in terms of closing those gaps by the time the men leave, enough to give some kind of a substantial give statement. i think what is pretty clear is that the summit is what is important to both men at this point. they are both committed to making the summit a success. you saw with kim jong—un,

the way north korean media has been now reporting that he is here, the language that is used, his walkabout in downtown singapore yesterday showing that he is just a regular quy: showing that he is just a regular guy, a charismatic guy. this image makeover idea. that was all over the newspapers in north korea this morning. so he says be committed to this meeting itself being a success and also mrtrump this meeting itself being a success and also mr trump wants to project that he's getting something out of the summitand that he's getting something out of the summit and this is the kind of things that he likes to do. these big moment, vic history moments, big meetings. much more comfortable in the setting than he was at the g7 with allies asking difficult questions on trade. that seems to me pretty clear that this is the focus here. and this year, the 70th year of the founding of north korea will be marked by a huge and elaborate ceremony in september in pyongyang. notably absent from the conversation

when we heard that briefing from the us secretary of state, was the conversation regarding human rights and the human rights record of north korea. iam not and the human rights record of north korea. i am not sure if you are hearing any different from the contacts that you know, but at the moment no conversation about whether or not that will be addressed in this dialogue. we have been given to understand that it probably won't, or at least if it is, not in any in—depth way. there has never been a strong statement from the administration that they plan to bring that up at this summit. they have been focusing very much on very much what can be agreed and mutual and on the whole denuclearisation front. that is the approach that president 0bama took with iran, a variant narrow negotiations process to try and get a non—proliferation agreement and there were plenty of things that the 0bama administration

could have raised with regards to their other behaviour including human rights and they decided they would have get an agreement if they went wider than what they did. that maybe the calculation here as well, but as mr kelly was saying as certainly donald trump's advisers would have told him, he should be too effusive standing next to mr kim, given his poor human rights record, what sort of message that would send. he has been at it, sort of, not to discipline the sometime in how he spoke with mr kim in mind, calling him an honourable man, praising and complementing him in many ways which didn't go down too well in washington and amongst his critics. we meet —— we may see a turnaround and we may see them arm in arm coming out of the meeting. but i can say that human rights is certainly not a priority at this meeting. thank you very much. she will be with us throughout the coming hours here as we pore over the detail, as soon as we find out

what exactly has been agreed between the two leaders, if anything of course. barbara mentioning the similarities between what has been spoken about, the model of iran and the lifting of sanctions and how that has evolved. drjim walsh is an expert in international security and a research associate at the massachusetts institute of technology's security studies program. he is one of a handful of americans who to north korea for talks with officials about nuclear issues. he's in cambridge massachusetts. i want to get your reactions of what has been unfolding here on the island of. well, i have to be honest, i am stunned. almost speechless. it would be a terrible interview if i was. we all knew it was coming. that is not a surprise. i have been working on this for more

than 18 years and see those two standing together, smiling, putting their arms around each other, to see kim jong—un talking in a public forum entering a question, making a public comment with the president of the, i don't know if i ever thought i would see that. and giving myself a night off and tonight i willjust say i am stunned. i can't believe what is happening in front of my eyes. it very much is happening, it is real. there is no fake is here. it is quite interesting to hear say that. like you have said, you have been working on this the decades of. you are privy to the conversations that took place leading up to this eventin that took place leading up to this event in north korea yourself. with that in mind, knowing what we know now. is something concrete going to come out the meeting between two men

today s ——?. come out the meeting between two men today s --?. i would say less rather than more but that doesn't mean it isa than more but that doesn't mean it is a failure. what strikes me about this is, again, years and years ago in the 1990s, the north koreans, the americans would say, if you change your behaviour, we will change our relationship. the north koreans would say, well you change the relationship, we will change the behaviour. i think this seems to be some sort of movement towards the middle there, where there is more a focus on the relationship. what i wa nt to focus on the relationship. what i want to hear tomorrow is what north korea is getting in terms of security assurances. the president has talked often about economic benefits, world that is all well and good but at the end of the day, north korea is not going to give up

a big part of its arsenal. it has to never will be assured that it will survive and that is a tough nut. it is tough for an adverse area, a more powerful adversarial. to somehow turn around and be the provider, the guarantor of their security. recently mike pompeo in the last they said that there were ideas, i will be looking for those ideas because otherwise it is an awfully good reach for him to cross to give up good reach for him to cross to give up his weapons and have two simply hope that the us goes through on its promises. it is fascinating to get your perspective on this, for now, thank you so much. i am sure we will continue this conversation for days, if not months and years to come. 0ur correspondent mariko 0i is outside the hotel where kim jong—un and

the north korean delegation is staying in singapore. what is the sense there that you we re what is the sense there that you were getting at the moment, that kim jong—un left where he was to make his way to this historic meeting? well, earlier you probably saw a lot of journalists behind us well, earlier you probably saw a lot ofjournalists behind us taking videos and pictures of kim jong—un leaving. now they are taking a little break because at the —— as you have been reporting he is at the hotel with a meeting with president trump, a truly historic summit. any of them on their smartphones watching the actual live picture of the summit on their phone. of course, many of them will be staying here, waiting for kim jong—un and his delegation to come back after the summit. some local media and south korea have been reporting he will leave at 2pm, which doesn't give him a lot of time, we will

continue to wait here. thank you very much for that. bringing you these pictures, the two men together, side—by—side. side stop. the two men went for a photo opportunity. they then left behind the scenes for a conversation, an informal dialogue. what is now happening is the official bilateral

conversation with all the teams involved. we can expect to see the chief of staff from both sides, the us secretary of state mike pompeo make. my reading is that conversation, the official summit now taking place, probably around ten o'clock local time, about ten minutes away, from the top of the hour. seeing the unprecedented scene of the north korean leader kim jong—un shaking hands with the us president donald trump on the forecourt of the capella hotel, a result ireland, isolated, where they can have the privacy of a meeting where it is anticipated it will be

historic but the substance will be in the detail as to whether or not the promises can be met in particular with white the us is asking, full denuclearisation, north korea giving up its nuclear power com pletely korea giving up its nuclear power completely and being able to verify it has done so. and the lifting of economic sanctions, of course. make no mistake the very to a having the conversation means it is a win for the north korean winner kimjong—un, an isolated regime fought decades. this was never thought imaginable for the leaders that have gone before kim jong—un, classifying america as an enemy of the state. the scenes are live. we approach the clock, what i believe to be the official start of this historic summit. professor robert kelly still with me here. we get to the meat of

what would be discussed. interesting to see what information comes through to us. that's right. the president has said that the first two minutes is central, the president stakes a lot on personal relationships. this is the risk here, if this is not go well, as it did withjustin trudeau, it could be a real push back. this is what is happening inside. live pictures. face—to—face conversations, opposite each other, of course surrounded by their media team, that people taking pa rt their media team, that people taking part in the low level conversations leading up to this. i am interested to see if we can hear what is being said there their... inaudible.

inaudible. we hope it will be successful. and

we hope it can be done. inaudible. thank you very much, everybody. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. you are watching bbc news with the breaking news here as we are inside the capella hotel on sentosa island in singapore. the summit between donald trump and kim

jong—un. the conversation now beginning. the scene is set. we have translators either side of donald trump and kimjong—un. we are translators either side of donald trump and kim jong—un. we are moving away from the shop we could see the two leaders, sitting opposite each other. there was mike pompeo, kim jong—un, the vice chair kim yong—chol kim yong—chol and john bolton, the controversial figure, hawkish in his stance on foreign policy and now we get to the detail of what we have been waiting for. the formal conversation between the two leaders, the summit now begins, on time, i predicted ten o'clock and that was the photo opportunity that we solve, to see the men surrounded around that table with their teams into. we heard of the about what was

going on, but it was very busy to hear because of the media hustling around and photographers. i am pretty certain in saying that now this will be a conversation if i close stores between the two teams leading up to what will be a historic summit in terms of the detail of whether or not north korea will give up its nuclear weapons and what north korea are giving to give in return. robert kelly, a professor from university in south korea. we're not there sit much else i do not think. presumably it will be closed doors. it will have to be a give and take. the north korean's highly unlikely that they will give up highly unlikely that they will give up everything. they will ask a lot.

evenif up everything. they will ask a lot. even if they give up something, even if they give some information about the programmes, they will ask for sanctions relief and aid. the concern is that the president may not have enough want to get to the details. this is outside the hotel just when the two men met. it is difficult to summarise in words how symbolic this is. north korea has a lwa ys symbolic this is. north korea has always referred to america as the arch enemy. how america has assassinated its people, the killer to the lifeline to north korea and here we are seeing smiles between the two leaders. a kind gesture from donald trump, showing kimjong—un the way through to the corridor. they now engage in bilateral

conversations between the two. stay with us here as we bring you every step of the development, live from singapore. hello and a very warm welcome to bbc news. i'm babita sharma in singapore. we're bringing you live coverage of the much—hyped kim—trump summit. even north korea's state broadcaster has finally begun reporting news of the historic meeting. donald trump and kimjong—un have met and shaken hands at the start of their historic one—day summit in singapore. the us president and north korean leader then held brief one—on—one talks with translators on defusing tensions and nuclear disarmament. the long road to the talks has seen secret meetings,