UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres today hailed as "important milestone" the agreement reached between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, appealing to the global community to back the complete denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.
After the summit in Singapore, Kim pledged to work toward the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula in return for security guarantees from the US, as Trump wrapped up the meeting with outcomes that could ease tensions and reshape the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region.
A statement issued by Guterres' spokesperson said he welcomed the summit as an "important milestone in the advancement of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.
" But the UN chief also cautioned that the road ahead requires "cooperation, compromise and a common cause".
"Implementing today's and previous agreements reached, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, will require patience and support from the global community," he said.
He urged all parties concerned to seize the "momentous opportunity" and reaffirmed his readiness to "fully support" the ongoing process.
Guterres had yesterday said that peace and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula must remain the clear and shared goal of the meeting.
Trump and Kim today had a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on issues related to establishing "new" relations between the two countries and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, according to a joint statement signed by them.
"Yesterday's conflict does not have to be tomorrow's war," Trump, 71, said following more than four hours of intense talks with Kim, 34, which he described as "honest, direct and productive.
" He also announced that the US will stop conducting military drills with South Korea after the historic summit, something widely seen as a concession as Pyongyang has long claimed they are invasion rehearsals.
The summit is seen by North Korea as a way of bringing legitimacy to a nation long regarded as a pariah.