Diplomacy takes shape
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's summit, scheduled for today, is a culmination of a series of meetings and will kick start a diplomatic process aimed at resolving North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal. This is how Trump and Kim agreed to meet
JANUARY 2018
1 In his New Year's address, Kim calls for improved relations with South Korea but adds that he has a nuclear button on his desk. Trump responds by saying that he has a "bigger and more powerful" nuclear button
9 North and South Korean officials meet at a border village and agree on North Korea sending athletes and delegates to the Winter Olympics
FEBRUARY
9 Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong attends the Pyeongchang Games as part of the North Korean delegation
MARCH
8 South Korea's national security director visits the North, says Kim is willing to discuss his nuclear arsenal with the US 9 South Korean envoys meet Trump in Washington and deliver an invitation to meet from Kim 27 Kim makes a surprise visit to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping
APRIL
18 Trump confirms then CIA director Mike Pompeo met Kim secretly in North Korea 21 North Korea says it has suspended nuclear and ICBM tests and plans to close its nuclear test site
27 Kim holds a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in
MAY
7 Kim meets Xi again in China
9 Pompeo, now US secretary of state, makes another visit to Pyongyang. North Korea releases three imprisoned Americans 10 Trump announces he will meet with Kim in Singapore on June 12
12 North Korea says it will hold a ceremony to dismantle its nuclear test site
16 North Korea abruptly cancels a high-level meeting with the South and threatens to cancel the summit with Trump over US-South Korean military exercises and US comments that the North should follow the "Libya model" of denuclearisation
24 A senior North Korean diplomat calls US vice president Mike Pence a "political dummy" for his comments on the North. Trump announces that he's pulling out of the summit, citing the North's "tremendous anger and open hostility"
25 North Korea says it is still willinig to hold talks with the US
26 Kim and Moon meet at a border village
30 North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol arrives in New York
JUNE
1 After meeting Kim Yong Chol, Trump says his meeting with Kim Jong Un is back on
10 Kim and Trump arrive in Singapore for their summit