Six people were seen at the round table inside the meeting room at the start of today's summit.

On the North Korean side, Kim Jong Un sat alongside his sister Kim Yo Jong and top government official and former spy chief Kim Yong Chol.

Flanking Moon Jae-in were Suh Hoon, the head of South Korea's spy agency, and Chief Presidential Secretary Im Jong-Suk.

It's been a busy morning on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared at about 9:30 South Korean time for the meeting.

He walked up to the demarcation line that divides the two sides of demilitarized zone, shook hands with Moon Jae-in, and then crossed into the southern side for the pomp and circumstance expected of such a high-level meeting of world leaders.

The leaders then retreated to the Peace House, where Kim Jong Un signed a guestbook with the inscription "a new history begins now."

They then entered the recently redesigned meeting room and gave statements on camera before the media was kicked out for the closed-door talks.

Friday's summit will be viewed from different angles by Asia's various regional powers. Here's a snapshot:

South Korea

From CNN's Paula Hancocks near the DMZ:

A peace deal is something the Blue House has specified they want to happen. South Korea would be happy if Moon Jae-in at the end of the day could say, yes, we declare an end to war.

China

From CNN's Matt Rivers in Beijing:

There is absolutely concern here in China that they are not going to have a seat at the table. Let’s say things go well today. Let’s say that the meeting between Kim and Trump goes well. Do negotiations over the North Korean nuclear program consist of those three countries alone? That would be something that China would be very upset by. So they’re doing everything they can to make suer they’re influencing North Korea in whatever way they can.

Japan

From CNN's Junko Ogura in Tokyo:

Japan has applauded South Korea’s efforts in organizing today’s inter-Korean summit and says it expects “positive discussions” in order to solve issues such as “abductions, nuclear and missiles,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular news conference on Friday.

Kim Jong Un has traveled back to the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone as the two sides break for lunch. He entered a black Mercedes-Benz limousine surrounded by bodyguards, which then drove across the military demarcation line -- with the guards running beside the vehicle.

CNN's Will Ripley, who has traveled to North Korea more than a dozen times, said Kim's security detail is both impressive and intimidating.

Kim and Moon are expected to go their separate ways for lunch, and then meet up again to plant a pine tree from 1953 (the year the Korean War armistice was signed).

The pine tree is a symbol of strength but also mindfulness in Tae Kwon Do, a Korean form of martial arts, because it grows strong roots below ground and high above it.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that as North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un crossed the military demarcation line (MDL), it became a symbol of peace, as he made his opening remarks at the beginning of the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade.

“I would like to pay tribute to the courageous and bold decision made by you chairman Kim to arrange our meeting,” he said.

Moon echoed Kim’s assertion that their encounter was extremely important and that expectations on both of them were very high. “I believe our encounter is extremely important for all of us and that of course means there is a huge burden on our shoulders,” Moon said.

He went on to say that after not speaking for so long, he could talk to the North Korean leader the entire day.

“Over the past seven decades we weren’t able to communicate, so I think we can talk the whole day today," Moon said, drawing laughs from Kim.

Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in brought delegations with them for today's talks. Here are some of the key people on both sides.

Kim's side:

Moon's side:

Kim Jong Un kicked off this morning's meeting with Moon Jae-in by telling him they should meet more often.

“As I walked over here, I thought, why was it so difficult to get here?” Kim told Moon and the South Korean delegation as they began talks.

“The separating line wasn’t even that high to cross. It was too easy to walk over that line and it took us 11 years to get here.”

Around 2,000 journalists are gathered at a media center in Ilsan, South Korea to cover the summit. 

The room was tense as the journalists massed inside the Kintex Conference Center waited for their first sight of Kim Jong Un. 

An audible gasp ran through the room as Kim walked down the steps towards the military demarcation line, followed by a loud cheers and applause from South Koreans in the room as the historic handshake took place and Kim stepped onto the south side.

A crowd of people gathered at Seoul station to take in the summit, many taking photos of the moment Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in shook hands. when Kim crossed the military demarcation line, people applauded and wowed. 

Ji Kwang-jin, seen in the yellow shirt in the above photo, told CNN he was happy to see such a positive reaction. 

"I came here to just watch the moment along with the other people since it's a historical moment I wanted to be with the public the moment I watch it," he said.

Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in each delivered opening remarks with the press present in the meeting room.

This is some of what they said, according to the official translation provided by the South Korean government.

From Kim:

The expectations are high and we have learned a lesson from previous times and even if we have good agreements and implementations don’t follow they will disappoint people who had high expectations. I hope the 11 years have lost in the past until this time don’t go to waste, and we can meet more often and put our minds together and the 11 years will not be wasted. I hope to write a new chapter between us. I believe that we are able to make a new beginning, and it is with such commitment I come to this meeting.

From Moon:

Spring (is) spreading in South Korea. I believe our encounter is extremely important for all of us. That of course means there is a huge burden on our shoulders. Comrade Kim, for the first time in our history you crossed the military demarcation line. It is no longer a symbol of division but a symbol of peace. I would like to pay tribute to the courageous and bold decision made by you, Chairman Kim.

Seoul gave the room where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in will meet.

The room underwent a dramatic makeover and was redecorated with symbolic tidbits throughout.

The normal rectangular table has been replaced by an oval one. Moon's office hopes the shape will encourage the summit's participants to talk candidly.

Other design features focus on the shared history between the two countries, including incorporating elements of a Hanok, a traditional Korean house.

Here's what it looks like:

After entering the Peace House for the inter-Korean summit, Kim Jong Un wrote in the guest book "a new history begins now" and "an age of peace, at the starting point of history."

Moon's office posted a picture of Kim's mes

The pomp and circumstances of the initial encounter has concluded. Kim, Moon and their delegations are now retreating to the meeting room for a quick chat before serious talks get underway.

The talks are taking place at the Peace House, located in what's known as either the Truce Village, the Joint Security Area (JSA) or Panmunjom. The Peace House is in the only part of the DMZ where troops from the two Koreas stand off face-to-face

Kim Jong Un has entered the Peace House on the southern side of the demilitarized zone, where the summit meetings will take place, and signed the guestbook.

After crossing into the southern side, Kim and Moon were photographed with two children from Daeseong-dong, the South Korean village inside the DMZ. They smiled and posed with the leaders at the start of the welcoming ceremony.

Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in first shook hands as each stood on either side of the military demarcation line that divides the two.

In a symbolic move, Moon then joined Kim on the northern side of the line before both leaders stepped over to the southern side, where Friday's summit will take place.

They then took in a performance of arirang, a traditional Korean folk song known in the North and the South.

Kim did not appear to look at the South Korean military guards, instead staring straight ahead.

Kim Jong Un has become first North Korean leader to cross the line dividing the two Koreas since fighting ended in the Korean War.

Watch the historic moment:

The top items on the agenda for the summit are denuclearization, the establishment of peace and advancement of inter-Korean relations, according to President Moon Jae-in's administration.

Human rights, however, hasn't appeared to break through as a key topic, much to the dismay of advocates and North Korean defectors.

He continued: “The goal should be to find real, long-term solutions to the security challenges on the peninsula, while taking steps to improve the dire human rights situation in North Korea.”

Here's what we know about North Korea's human right's situation:

Marchers gathered in Paju, not far from the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a day before the summit to call for peace.

More than 500 women from the International Women's Peace Group chanted, "We are one."

President Moon Jae-in has exited his motorcade and is getting ready for the summit. We're fewer than 20 minutes away from the expected handshake.

President Moon Jae-in won't be the first South Korean leader to meet his North Korean counterpart.

The late South Korean Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun each traveled to Pyongyang for inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007, respectively.

Both walked away with a handful of agreements, but the good will didn't last.

Still, experts say there are important lessons Moon and his administration can take from his predecessors' successes and failures.

Here's what happened in past summits:

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has arrived in the demilitarized zone. He's expected to shake hands with Kim Jong Un within the hour.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's motorcade has crossed the Unification Bridge, which is close to the DMZ.

Though they don't have to deal at all with traffic, the journey is taking a bit longer than expected, according to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She is on the ground near the bridge.

Evans Revere, a former deputy chief of mission and chargé d'affaires of the US Embassy in Seoul, spoke to CNN from Seoul about what to expect on at the summit.

He said the mood in some corners of South Korea is "optimistic bordering on euphoric."

Revere said he was concerned that the dialogue coming from the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime has been too vague, a problem diplomats encountered during previous attempts at rapprochement with Pyongyang.

“The core issue going forward is going to be the one that we began with -- which is is the North Korean leader, is North Korea serious about going down the path of denuclearization? And my answer to that is I don’t know," he said.

"I suspect they may not be, but let’s hope that the North Koreans come to the table on Friday and say, 'We are serious and here’s evidence that we’re prepared to go down that path.' I’ll be the happiest man in the world if they come to the table and say something along those lines. But based on previous experience, I suspect they won’t.”

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea (the main political party that runs North Korea), carried the news of the summit as their top story in today's paper.

The headline reads:

Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, left Pyongyang early on Friday morning for the historical North-South summit meeting and talks to be held in the south side portion of Panmunjom.

Ordinary South Koreans are largely unable to see how North Korea is framing the event. North Korean state media and propaganda is censored in the South under a national security law dating to before the Korean War, and the websites of the official Korean Central News Agency and other outlets are blocked.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's motorcade has left Seoul en route for the DMZ.

He was greeted by cheering supporters waving South Korean flags outside the Blue House, his official residence, where he shook hands with veterans of the Korean War. Before he left, Moon greeted a large crowd and shook hands with several well-wishers before climbing into a car.

It's about 30 or so miles as the crow flies.

This graphic from the South Korean government shows the route that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may take to cross into the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

Here's what they said will happen:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in will hold talks at the Peace House on the southern side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas.

Here's what you need to know about the meeting grounds:

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet for the first time in more than a decade at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two countries.

Twelve months ago, a summit between North and South Korea would've been unthinkable.

Here's why:

That outreach helped open the diplomatic channels that both sides used to set up today's summit.

In March, Trump accepted Kim's invitation for a face-to-face meeting, which is expected to be held in late May or June.