At the invitation of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, U.S. President Donald Trump crosses the border in Panmunjom on June 30, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to step onto DPRK soil (XINHUA) 

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula eased early in the year marked by two meetings between Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. After a historic first meeting in Singapore in 2018, the two met again in Hanoi, Viet Nam, in February, with a third meeting in Panmunjom, a village in the demilitarized zone between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK), in June. Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to cross into the DPRK.

However, as the deadline for a denuclearization deal was set to pass with no agreement in place, the DPRK conducted a series of weapon tests and Trump launched a war of words against the country. Thus, the future of DPRK-U.S. relations remains uncertain.