The White House tried to swat away criticism that the US is getting nothing in exchange for agreeing to a historic face-to-face summit between president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea announced it had sacked leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle, long considered the country’s second-in-command, saying corruption, drug use, gambling, womanising and generally leading a “dissolute and depraved life” had caused Pyongyang’s highest-profile fall from grace since Kim took power two years ago.