After a period of heightened conflict that included North Korea successfully testing what it claims was its first hydrogen bomb and the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) in late 2017 , tensions began to de-escalate after Kim Jong-un announced his desire to send athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympics being held in South Korea . During the games , Kim proposed talks with South Korea to plan an inter-Korean summit . On March 8 , the South Korean delegation returned from the talks and traveled to the United States to deliver an invitation by Kim Jong-un to Donald Trump for a meeting . High-level exchanges between the two sides then took place , including a visit by then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang and a visit by Kim Yong-chol , Vice Chairman of the Workers ' Party of Korea , to the White House . Both sides threatened to cancel the summit after a round of joint military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea , with Trump even delivering a formal letter to Kim to call off the meeting ; however , the two sides eventually agreed to meet . A second meeting was held between Trump and Kim in February 2019 in Hanoi , Vietnam
second meeting
2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit
2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit