Seoul: South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday hailed the outcome of the summit between President Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un as a "historic event" that ended the last Cold War conflict.
"I offer my heartfelt congratulations and welcome the success of the historic North Korea-United States summit", Moon said in a statement.
"The June 12 Sentosa Agreement will be recorded as a historic event that has helped break down the last remaining Cold War legacy on Earth," he said.
Moon has made great efforts playing the role of mediator to bring the Cold War foes back to dialogue.
He praised Trump and Kim for their "courage and determination" not to settle for "that outdated and familiar reality but to take a daring step towards change".
He lionised Trump for achieving "a feat that no one else has ever delivered", adding Kim would also be remembered as "a leader who made a historic moment by taking the first bold step toward the world".
"Building upon the agreement reached on Tuesday, we will take a new path going forward. "Leaving dark days of war and conflict behind, we will write a new chapter of peace and cooperation. We will be there together with North Korea along the way", he said.
Moon however cautioned that this was "just a beginning and there may be many difficulties ahead".
"But we will never go back to the past again and never give up on this bold journey. History is a record of people who take action and rise to a challenge," he added.
Meanwhile, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday welcomed a document signed by North Korea's leader at an unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump as a "first step" towards denuclearisation. Speaking briefly hours after Kim Jong Un and Trump held historic talks in Singapore, Abe also said he was pleased that the US leader had raised the emotive issue of Japanese abducted by Pyongyang.
"Through this US-North Korea summit, Chairman Kim Jong Un's intent for complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was confirmed in writing," Abe told reporters.
"I support this as a first step to the comprehensive resolution of issues concerning North Korea."
Kim and Trump signed a document after their talks in which the North Korean leader reaffirmed his commitment to "work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula", without giving further details. It made no reference to other weapons capabilities, including the missiles that North Korea has fired over Japan.
The document also refers to the repatriation of the remains of prisoners of war and those killed in conflict, but makes no specific reference to people abducted by North Korea.
The issue of Japanese citizens who were abducted in the 1970s and 1980s to help Pyongyang train its spies has long soured already strained relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang.
The Japanese government has officially listed 17 people as abductees, but there are strong suspicions that dozens more citizens were snatched to train Pyongyang's spies in the Japanese language and culture.
Japan has repeatedly called for the issue to be raised in discussions with Pyongyang, and Trump said at a press conference on this afternoon that he had discussed the issue with Kim. "I highly appreciate the fact that President Trump firmly touched upon what I told him recently about the abduction issue which is very important to us, to Japan," Abe said.
"I want to hear the details by phone (from Trump). I will continue aiming to resolve concerns such as the abduction, nuclear and missile issues," he added. Japan has maintained a hardline position on North Korea despite a whirlwind of diplomacy towards Pyongyang in recent months, and has been left largely on the sidelines as South Korea and the United States have held talks with
Kim.