Trump briefly stepped over the border at 3:45 PM (GMT+9) on June 30, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president had set foot on North Korean soil.

On the morning of June 29, at the G20 summit, Trump tweeted, "If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!

[15] On the evening of the same day, Ri Yong-ho met with Stephen Biegun, the U.S. State Department's Special Representative for North Korea, at Panmunjom, in preparation for the summit.

"[22] According to the book of John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser at that time, Trump didn't want Moon to join him during his third meeting with Kim in the DMZ.

[35][36] U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that Trump administration negotiators would meet North Korean counterparts to resume denuclearization talks in mid-July.

[37] David E. Sanger and Michael Crowley, in an analysis for The New York Times, wrote that in the lead-up to the meeting, Trump administration officials had been internally considering the prospect that a new round of U.S.–North Korea negotiations could lead to the U.S. accepting "a nuclear freeze, one that essentially enshrines the status quo, and tacitly accepts the North as a nuclear power," rather than complete denuclearization.

[42] However, Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University stated that both Kim and Trump "needed something that is strong on optics but weak on substance" and that the DMZ meeting was intended to convey a political message without raising expectations about progress toward an actual agreement on the North Korean nuclear issue.

[45] Kim was quoted in the Rodong Sinmun as saying that "a dramatic meeting like today could take place in one day due to positive friendly relationship with President Trump.

[58] Jean H. Lee, the director of the Center for Korean History and Public Policy, wrote that, "There's a reason why past presidents chose not to go to North Korea while in office: Such visits grant enormous legitimacy to the Kims.

"[59] Samantha Vinograd, a member of the National Security Council during the Obama administration, said that by meeting Kim at the DMZ without preconditions attached, Trump was signaling that North Korea was "a normalized, nuclear power.

Park wrote that although "one must be clear-eyed to the reality that a tangible result has not yet materialized in Trump's North Korea diplomacy," patience could lead to more concrete impacts.

"[62] Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, agreed that Xi had facilitated the Trump–Kim meeting.

"[63] The Catholic leader Pope Francis praised the summit as "a step further in the walk of peace" for the Korean Peninsula and "the entire world.

[71] In November, North Korea's U.N. Mission announced that the country has gained no progress from U.S although two leaders committed to establishing a new relationship during the first US-DPRK summit.

[77][78] Some of Senate Republicans including Lindsey Graham praised Trump's pick and mentioned, "he's got great negotiating skills", and "he would be a very sound policy adviser.

Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft announced that the U.S. was ready "to simultaneously take concrete steps" with a flexible approach for a 'balanced agreement"/nuclear deal with the DPRK.

[85][86] Craft at the same time warned North Korea that its “deeply counterproductive” ballistic missile tests risked closing the door on prospects for negotiating peace.

Craft while chairing the UN Security Council requested North Korea return to the negotiation table in order to take concrete, parallel steps toward a nuclear agreement.