Trump and Kim Jong-un handshake begins historic US-North Korea summit (Video)

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un concluded an extraordinary nuclear summit Tuesday with the U.S. president pledging unspecified "security guarantees" to the North and Kim recommitting to the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

They coupled the summit agreement with lofty promises by Trump to handle "a very dangerous problem" and Kim's prediction for "major change."

Light on specifics, the document largely amounted to an agreement to continue discussions as it echoed previous public statements and past commitments. It did not include an agreement to take steps toward ending the technical state of warfare between the U.S. and North Korea.

The pair promised in the document to "build a lasting and stable peace regime" on the Korean Peninsula and to repatriate remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action during the Korean War.

Language on North Korea's bombs was similar to what the leaders of North and South Korea came up with at their own summit in April. At the time, the Koreans faced criticism for essentially kicking the issue of North Korea's nuclear arsenal down the road to Tuesday's Trump-Kim summit. Trump and Kim even directly referenced the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearization and no specifics on how to achieve it.

News photographers captured photos of the broad, two-page agreement, which was not immediately released by the White House.

The document signing followed a series of meetings at a luxury Singapore resort.

Meeting with staged ceremony on a Singapore island, Trump and Kim came together for a summit that seemed just unthinkable months ago, clasping hands in front of a row of alternating U.S. and North Korean flags, holding a one-on-one meeting, additional talks with advisers and a working lunch.

Throughout the summit that could chart the course for historic peace or raise the spectre of a growing nuclear threat, both leaders expressed optimism. Kim called the sit-down a "good prelude for peace" and Trump pledged that "working together we will get it taken care of."

In advance of their private session, Trump predicted "tremendous success" while Kim said through an interpreter that "we have come here after overcoming" obstacles.

Aware that the eyes of the world were on a moment many people never expected to see, Kim said many of those watching would think it was a scene from a "science fiction movie."

In the run-up to the meeting, Trump had predicted the two men might strike a nuclear deal or forge a formal end to the Korean War in the course of a single meeting or over several days. But in the hours before the summit, the White House unexpectedly announced Trump would depart Singapore earlier than expected — Tuesday evening — raising questions about whether his aspirations for an ambitious outcome had been scaled back.

Giving voice to the anticipation felt around the world, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday he "hardly slept" before the summit. Moon and other officials watched the live broadcast of the summit before a South Korean Cabinet meeting in his presidential office

The meeting was the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

After meeting privately and with aides, Trump and Kim moved into the luncheon at a long flower-bedecked table. As they entered, Trump injected some levity to the day's extraordinary events, saying: "Getting a good picture everybody? So we look nice and handsome and thin? Perfect."

Then they dined on beef short rib confit along with sweet and sour crispy pork.

During a break in the summit Tuesday, Trump told reporters talks were "going great. We had a really fantastic meeting."

He added that there has been "a lot of progress. Really very positive. I think better than anybody could imagine."

And as they emerged from the meal for a brief stroll together, Trump appeared to delight in showing his North Korean counterpart the interior of "The Beast," the famed U.S. presidential limousine known for its high-tech fortifications.

Critics of the summit leapt at the leaders' handshake and the moonlight stroll Kim took Monday night along the glittering Singapore waterfront, saying it was further evidence that Trump was helping legitimize Kim on the world stage as an equal of the U.S. president. Kim has been accused of horrific rights abuses against his people.

Trump responded to such commentary on Twitter, saying: "The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers." But he added "our hostages" are back home and testing, research and launches have stopped.

Trump also tweeted: "Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly ... but 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!"

The summit capped a dizzying few days of foreign policy activity for Trump, who shocked U.S. allies over the weekend by using a meeting in Canada of the Group of Seven industrialized economies to alienate America's closest friends in the West. Lashing out over trade practices, Trump lobbed insults at his G7 host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump left that summit early and, as he flew to Singapore, tweeted that he was yanking the U.S. out of the group's traditional closing statement.

The Associated Press