On the morning of June 11th, 2018, President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un held their much-anticipated summit in Singapore.

At the summit, the nations agreed that North Korea will dismantle its nuclear projects, while the US will stop all joint military exercises with South Korea - exercises that North Korea has viewed as a provocation.

© Donald J. Trump/Facebook

Trump's decision to halt the military exercises took South Korea, and some officials in the US military, by surprise. The US military has long used the joint air combat and infantry drills to ensure they are prepared for battle in the region, and Trump had previously said the exercises were critical to protect its South Korean allies and were not negotiable.

Both nations signed a statement in which Trump "committed to provide security guarantees" to North Korea, and Mr. Kim "reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." However, the statement does not differ much from prior written agreements that failed, and does not include details about when or how exactly the denuclearization will take place, or how it will be verified. The statement included a provision that details will be hashed out in negotiations between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a high-ranking North Korean official "at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes" of the summit. Economic sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until these details are fleshed out.

Trump was positive about the outcome of the meeting, flattering Jong-un as "strong," "funny," "smart," and a "great negotiator." During the meeting, Trump's rapport-building strategies included showing Jong-un a four-minute video of his vision for a prosperous, technologically developed, peaceful, and cooperative future North Korea. Trump raised eyebrows by going so far as to say that he admired certain elements of Jong-un's brutally dictatorial leadership. "He's the strong head [of a country]...he speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same," Trump said, though he later claimed he intended this comment as a joke.

Trump's optimistic tone about North Korea is particularly remarkable given the heightened tension between the countries just a few months ago, when Trump insulted Jong-un by calling him "Little Rocket Man" and threatening to "totally destroy" the nation, and North Korea responded in kind, calling Trump a "deranged dotard" and threatening military action. But Trump framed this as an effective, though occasionally personally distasteful, rhetorical strategy.

Although uncertainty remains and the ultimate effects of the summit remain to be seen, the meeting represented a historic moment and signaled a new chapter in US-North Korea relations that may stabilize the region, help North Korea and South Korea reach reunification, and benefit the project of global peace.