With the world watching the upcoming meeting between Trump and Kim, CGTN's Sean Callebs looks back at the history of tension on the Korean Peninsula and on the different roles Washington and Pyongyang have played.  

Brutal fighting began in 1950 - triggering years of war that altered the global geopolitical climate to this day. In the early months of fighting, troops from what was known as the DPRK, pushed the enemy deep into the south. It was only five years after the end of World War II that US General Douglas MacArthur and American forces, stationed in nearby Japan -- were drawn in.

But the bloody fighting took a dramatic change as US-led forces closed in on the border with China -- A nation back then, only recently unified by former Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong. At the beginning of this tense standoff -- South Korea was the poorer nation, with the DPRK bolstered by investment from the then-Soviet Union. Now, the south has the 10th largest economy in the world -and the north has become a hermit nation.

MICHAEL O'HANLON SECURITY ANALYST "I don't think we know very much about what is going on inside North Korea."

This satellite image showing a nation bathed in darkness -basically cut off from the outside world.

MICHAEL O'HANLON SECURITY ANALYST "The rudimentary state of technology inside of North Korea plus their, --penchant, their strong penchant for communications security. The best I can tell from the outside, -- we don't have a lot of access to their internal communications."

Just one year ago, the DPRK proved it also has missiles that can carry these nuclear warheads - capable of reaching virtually anywhere in the United States.

SEAN CALLEBS SINGAPORE Over the decades, there have been glimmers of hope between Washington and Pyongyang-to reduce the tension on the Korean Peninsula -but time and again, the expectations never quite bloomed. Now, the stage is set here in Singapore -- And to many, it will be viewed as a success if the two sides are still talking at the end of the week-instead of testing missiles and warheads. Sean Callebs, CGTN, Singapore.