It has taken a lot to bring unpredictable leaders - Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump to the negotiating table. Kim announced a halt to his nuclear weapons testing back in November. Trump has been able to accomplish something his immediate predecessors haven't - getting the DPRK to talk about denuclearization. There is still a long way to go - but what is at stake? CGTN's Sean Callebs reports from Singapore.  

The key players are now in position in Singapore. DPRK leader Kim Jong Un arriving first. And, Air Force One, carrying US President Donald Trump half-way around the world for the key face-to-face meeting. A year ago the US was talking about a pre-emptive military strike against Pyongyang.

PROFESSOR ARTHUR DONG GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY McDONOUGH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS "It is a remarkable change in circumstances as you said a year ago."

SUZANNE DIMAGGIO US FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT "We were at the height of tensions —both rhetorically, but in real terms too. We were moving military assets into the region. I don't think it was just a threat —I think it was being seriously considered."

Security is tight, on Singapore's island of Sentosa. It's been the site of a Japanese prisoner of war camp — now, a tourist attraction. But this week — the site of the one day summit.

PROFESSOR ARTHUR DONG GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY McDONOUGH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS "You have two strong leaders here — both highly charismatic in their own way and unpredictable."

So what will it take for the DPRK and the US to leave here - calling the talks a success.

Suzanne DiMaggio is Vice-President of the New America think tank -and an expert in US foreign relations.

SUZANNE DIMAGGIO US FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT "I think Kim Jong un, first of all, wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with the president. It would be an indication he is coming into negotiations on equal footing."

And a nation that is a budding nuclear power — which is EXACTLY what Donald Trump is trying to end.

PROFESSOR ARTHUR DONG GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MCDONOUGH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS "The best case scenario is that we see a gradual transformation of the DPRK —and when I say gradual, I don't think things will happen overnight —but we at least need a dialogue. A failure, would be both sides just completely rejecting all the progress that has been made up to this point and a condition for further engagement, and denuclearization by a certain time period."

SEAN CALLEBS SINGAPORE Singapore also provides a chance for Donald Trump to forge a relationship with Kim Jong un.

Foreign policy experts say it is a rare chance — to talk about Germany, Vietnam, and Japan — nations the US once faced on the battlefield, it now counts as friends. If the two leaders can see eye to eye — there is a chance the DPRK and US could go down that same path eventually.

SEAN CALLEBS, CGTN, IN SINGAPORE.