North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have announced the end of the Korean War and will work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Photo: AFP / Korea Summit Press Pool

The two countries plan to sign a peace treaty, formally ending the Korean War this year, the 65th anniversary of the armistice.

"There will be no more war on the Korean peninsula and thus a new era of peace has begun," the statement says.

The two leaders agreed to work for the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

Smiling and holding hands, the leaders met at the heavily fortified demilitarised zone between the countries on Friday, pledging to pursue peace after decades of conflict.

Mr Kim became the first North Korean leader since the 1950-53 Korean War to set foot in South Korea, stepping over a concrete curb marking the border at the truce village of Panmunjom to shake hands with his counterpart.

Scenes of Mr Moon and Mr Kim joking and walking together marked a striking contrast to last year's barrage of North Korean missile tests and its largest ever nuclear test that led to sweeping international sanctions and fears of a fresh conflict on the Korean peninsula.

"We are at a starting line today, where a new history of peace, prosperity and inter-Korean relations is being written," Mr Kim said before the two Korean leaders and top aides began talks.

During their private meeting, Mr Kim told Mr Moon he came to the summit to end the history of conflict and joked he was sorry for waking Mr Moon up with his early morning missile tests, a South Korean official said.

Mr Kim told Mr Moon he would be willing to visit the presidential Blue House in Seoul, invited Mr Moon to Pyongyang, and said he wanted to meet "more often" in the future, the official said. Just days before the summit, Mr Kim said North Korea would suspend nuclear and long-range missile tests and dismantle its only known nuclear test site.

Two earlier summits between the leaders of North and South Korea, in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, failed to halt the North's weapons programmes or improve relations in a lasting way.

- Reuters / BBC