No matter what comes next in the talks between Kim Jong Un and President Trump, their handshake will remain historic, Jean H. Lee, a North Korea expert at the US-based Wilson Center, told CNN.
"I’m really thinking about how this is going to play in Pyongyang because this is such a powerful moment for the North Korean people," she said.
"It will be celebrated in North Korea as the moment the United States acknowledged and treated North Korea as an equal.”
Lee said for the US president to fly half way around the world to meet the leader of a "very poor and very small country" lent him a huge amount of legitimacy.
"This is what (Kim) had in mind when he ramped up and accelerated the testing of his devices – to force the President to come to the negotiating table,” Lee said. “It’s stunning to watch and chilling for me to see because we are giving him exactly what he wanted.”