The US president Donald Trump became the first sitting American president to meet a North Korean leader when he and Kim Jong Un sat down to talk at a resort hotel in Singapore.
Around Asia and the world, many have welcomed a flurry of diplomacy between the two adversaries in recent months, after a year of mounting tension and threats. Hopes for peace on the long-divided Korean Peninsula, however, remain tempered by the many failed attempts in the past.
"The United States and North Korea have been in a state of antagonism for more than half a century," Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said. "Today, that the two countries' highest leaders can sit together and have equal talks, has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang later said that UN sanctions against North Korea could be suspended or lifted in accordance with the North's actions. "We believe the Security Council should make efforts to support the diplomatic efforts at the present time," he said.
Trump said at a post-summit news conference that he has held off from imposing additional sanctions, but that the US would remove sanctions that are in place when the North's nuclear weapons "are no longer a factor."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he "could hardly sleep last night" in anticipation of the meeting and expressed hope for "complete denuclearization and peace."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed Kim's written commitment to complete denuclearization in an agreement signed with Trump at the end of their meeting in Singapore.
At a train station in Seoul, the South Korean capital, people cheered and applauded as televisions screens broadcast the Trump-Kim handshake live.
"I really, really hope for a good outcome," said Yoon Ji, a professor at Sungshin University in Seoul. "I am hoping for denuclearization and a peace agreement and also for North Korea's economy to open up."
Doubts remians
Some questioned whether Kim would fully relinquish the weapons he may see as his only guarantee of survival.
"I am still not sure whether the North is willing to denuclearize or not," said Jo Han-won. "We never knew much about the North Korean regime and it's hard to distinguish what's true and what's false."
China, which provided a Boeing 747 that flew Kim from Pyongyang to Singapore, wants to ensure its interests are preserved in any negotiations, namely that they don't result in a unified Korea that is pro-American.
Japan's largest newspaper, the Yomiuri, printed a one-page "extra" edition in both Japanese and English that was distributed for free in major cities 90 minutes after the meeting began.
The hard work remains to come, said Momoko Shimada, a 20-year-old student: "After the handshake and political show will be the real action. I believe that won't be easy."
"I am still not sure whether the North is willing to denuclearize or not," said Jo Han-won. "We never knew much about the North Korean regime and it's hard to distinguish what's true and what's false."
New Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, on a visit to Tokyo, said that "both sides must be prepared to give in certain issues if they expect to reach a good conclusion."
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