They signed a joint statement, agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea, new peaceful relations, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, recovery of soldiers' remains, and follow-up negotiations between high-level officials.

On March 8, the South Korean delegation returned from the talks and traveled to the United States to deliver an invitation by Kim Jong Un to Donald Trump for a meeting.

[11] The Obama administration had a policy of "strategic patience", in which perceived North Korean provocations would not be "rewarded" with presidential attention or the sending of high-level envoys but instead be punished with sanctions and greater military coordination with South Korea and Japan.

[15] During a period of heightened tensions with the United States, North Korea successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), named Hwasong-14, in July 2017.

[25] In his New Year address of 2018, North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un celebrated completing the countries' nuclear capabilities and proposed talks for sending a delegation to the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea.

After arriving late to a dinner hosted by President Moon, he was asked to greet the other dignitaries, but he shook hands with everyone except Kim Yong-nam and left early.

[40] National Information Director Suh Hoon visited Japan and had a consultation with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe including the foreign officials about the denuclearization and Permanent Peace on the Korean Peninsula.

[60] As a result, North Korean vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui called Pence's remarks "ignorant and stupid" and threatened a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown".

[58][61][62] Trump canceled the summit on May 24, 2018, via a letter to Chairman Kim, writing that "based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting ... You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used."

[67] The following day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed in a statement that a "pre-advance team for Singapore will leave as scheduled in order to prepare the summit should take place".

[70] Kim Yong-chol, who is the Vice Chair of Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the US since 2000 (when Jo Myong-rok met with US President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C.).

The government also issued an order exempting four bulletproof and bombproof vehicles from certain traffic rules for the purposes of conveying "non-citizen" individuals for the summit from June 5–30.

[111] On April 17, on the day of a meeting at Mar-a-Lago of Trump with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe, sources revealed to reporters the identities involved in the discussions in Pyongyang.

[114] Trump believed that Panmunjom in DMZ would be the reasonable location for the meeting to remove nuclear weapons and to sign the preparatory peace treaty on the Korean peninsula.

[158] A working-level meeting was held between the United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui, at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore on Monday morning.

[167][168] Retired U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman, who made a number of visits to North Korea to promote sports and developed a personal relationship with Chairman Kim over several years, announced that he would be in Singapore during the summit but would not be involved in the meeting.

[208][209] The director of USC Korean Studies Institute David C. Kang wrote an analysis of North Korea's solution which was published in The New York Times.

[213] The North Korean foreign minister released an announcement criticizing unilateral denuclearization, and Ri Yong-ho has emphasized that it is only equitable to perform a “balanced, simultaneous, step-by-step implementation” of the US-DPRK Joint Statement.

However, North Korean state media criticized the meeting soon after, saying the U.S. had shown a "gangster-like attitude" and calling the demands of the Trump administration "deeply regrettable".

[220] Notwithstanding the stern reports, Pompeo delivered a letter from Kim to Trump, in which the latter expressed his hope for successful implementation of the US-North Korea Joint Statement and reaffirmed his will for improving the relations between the countries.

The message from DPRK was North Korea's evident disappointment as Washington had shown no real eagerness to sign a peace treaty to end the Korean War.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono revealed appreciation for Pompeo's "prompt communication” with South Korea, and said Japan would be pleased to cooperate with the U.S. for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

McKeague expressed his opinion that North Korea needs to allow the resumption of joint U.S.-North Korean searches of battlefields and POW camp graveyards to discover more war remains as soon as practical.

[233] The Voice of America (VOA) reported on July 25 that there is evidence that North Korea has dismantled an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) construction facility near Pyongyang.

"[237] On July 24, it was reported that North Korea had begun to dismantle a rocket launching and testing site near Tonchang, an action which Kim had pledged to Trump.

While the previous dismantlement of the vertical engine test stand on 23 July, represents a fulfillment of Chairman Kim's arrangement with President Trump conducted publicly during the post-Singapore Summit press conference, activity at the launch pad and concrete foundation appears to go exceeding that pledge.

[251][252] However, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri-Yong Ho said in a privilege speech at the ASEAN summit, that a “good-faith implementation of the Joint Statement (between the USA and DPRK) would be necessary”.

[253][254][255][256][257] The New York Times reported on November 12, 2018 that "satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception" by offering to dismantle one missile launch site while continuing to develop sixteen others.

[260] On November 13, 2018, Kim Eui Keum, a spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-In, described the report and images as "nothing new" and further stated that North Korea "has never signed any agreement, any negotiation that makes shutting down missile bases mandatory.

"[261] CNN acquired satellite images in December 2018 that indicated North Korea was continuing to significantly expand a major long-range missile site in the mountainous interior of the country, including an "extremely large underground facility" that could be under construction as of August 2018.