Singapore, Jun 12 (IANS): United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island on Tuesday morning and began a first-ever summit in history between the sitting leaders of the two countries.

The summit began at 9 a.m. local time (6.30 IST) with a handshake greeting before the cameras.

Trump and Kim then began around 45-minute meeting behind closed door before having a working meeting with their respective delegations and a lunch, Efe reported.

Trump arrived at the Capella Hotel at 8.14a.m. in the morning, after a journey of less than 15 minutes from Shangri-la Hotel, where he stays. Kim left a little later from his hotel, St. Regis, and arrived shortly after 8.30am at the meeting place.

The initial handshake took place in a courtyard of the British colonial-style hotel, amid US and North Korean flags that flank the red carpet.

Tuesday's summit in Singapore, which aims to address the possible denuclearisation of North Korea, is the first between the two countries' sitting leaders after nearly 70 years of confrontation in the wake of the Korean War (1950-1953), and 25 years of failed negotiations and tensions over the North Korean nuclear programme.