AKIPRESS.COM - Kim Jong-un has become the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea by crossing the military line that has divided the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953, BBC reports.

In a moment rich with symbolism and pomp, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and Mr Kim shook hands at the border.

Mr Kim said he hoped for "frank" discussion during a warm opening exchange as talks kicked off.

The historic summit will cover nuclear weapons and a possible peace treaty.

Much of what they will talk about is likely to have been agreed in advance, but many analysts remain sceptical about the North's sincerity in offering to give up nuclear weapons.

Nevertheless, the whole of South Korea stood still for the moment the two leaders shook hands on both sides of the border in the demilitarised zone between the countries.

Then audiences watched in surprise as Mr Kim invited the South Korean president to step briefly across the demarcation line into North Korea, before the pair stepped back into South Korea - all the while holding hands.

It was an apparently unscripted moment during a highly choreographed sequence of events.