A Nobel in the offing for Trump, Kim?

Could their historic Singapore summit earn Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un a Nobel Peace Prize? Maybe, but it's still early days, say experts.

The leaders yesterday signed an agreement which, while short on details, reaffirmed Pyongyang's commitment to the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

Even before the summit, several people, including South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, former US president Jimmy Carter and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, suggested Trump could deserve the Nobel.

But experts say the prestigious prize -- at least for now -- may remain elusive for the duo. Timing and personalities count against both leaders, they say.

Trump has given a seismic shock to global diplomacy by, among other things, pulling the US out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran and Paris climate deal , while Kim is guilty of numerous human rights violations.

And then there is the question of whether their process bears fruit. The diplomacy of disarmament is invariably risk-laden, complex and long.

"It's too early," Asle Sveen, a historian who specialises in the Nobel prize, said of the prospects for a Kim-Trump award.

"But if (the agreement) were to lead to real disarmament on the Korean peninsula, it would be very difficult to not award them the prize. It would be a bizarre situation, but that's happened in the past," he said.