During his first summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presented himself as a relaxed person, often smiling and cracking jokes. 

According to the pool of reporters for Friday’s historic summit, Kim made a joke before even sitting down with Moon for their morning discussion at the Peace House on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjeom. 

As the two leaders shook hands on the second floor, Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the North’s ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, clapped his hands before some others at the venue followed suit. The North Korean leader jokingly said he felt shy being applauded for merely shaking hands. 

Kim also drew laughter when he asked the photographers whether the photos of him were well taken. 

He also presented himself as a courteous dialogue partner for Moon; when he listened to Moon, he looked the South Korean leader in the eye, sometimes nodding his head.

When he was crossing the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) in the morning to become the first North Korean leader in history to set foot in the South, Moon said Panmunjeom is no longer a symbol of division but has become a symbol of peace, to which Kim nodded in agreement. 

When Moon said he wants to express his respect for Kim for his decision to hold an inter-Korean summit, Kim smiled. He responded with a smile again, when Moon proposed they would share sufficient dialogue during the day which the two countries had not done over the past ten years.