U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have kicked off a two-day bilateral summit with 20-minute-long informal talks in Vietnam. 

The two leaders sat down for the talks at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel at 6:40 p.m. local time on Wednesday to warm up for official meetings scheduled for Thursday. 

Before the talks began, they marked their first reunion since their inaugural summit in Singapore last June with handshakes, laughs and small talk. 

At the beginning of the one-on-one talks with Trump, Kim assessed the significance of their second summit and expressed his expectation for positive outcomes. 

Kim recalled the past eight months since their first summit as time for much thought, effort and patience. 

The North Korean leader said hostile and old practices of distrust and misunderstanding were obstacles that the two sides were able to overcome by meeting again for the first time in 260 days.   

Kim added he is confident a great result everyone can welcome will be produced from the second summit and that he will do his best to make it happen. 

Saying he was honored to meet Kim again, Trump declared the first summit was a success despite the fact that some wanted more tangible results. The U.S. president said the second summit will be as good as the first or even better. 

He added North Korea has much economic potential, indicating that the possibility of lifting some sanctions on the North would take place if the Kim regime takes bold denuclearization measures. 

A 90-minute-long social dinner followed the talks where the two leaders were joined by their top aides. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney attended the banquet along with Kim Yong-chol, the Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. 

On Thursday, the two leaders are expected to hold summit talks and adopt a Hanoi declaration.

[Photo : YONHAP News]