The Hill: North Korea state TV airs footage of Trump saluting North Korean military officer
North Korean state media early Tuesday broadcast its first video of President Trump's historic summit with Kim Jong Un, including footage of Trump saluting a North Korean officer.
In parts of the lengthy, 42-minute long video from North Korea's KCTV news channel, Kim can be seen shaking Trump's hand before the president turns to shake the hand of a North Korean officer standing next to Kim. The officer, confused, salutes Trump instead, prompting the president to salute back.
U.S. presidents generally salute U.S. service members, but do not salute members of other nation's militaries.
CNN reports that other exclusive footage broadcast Thursday from North Korean state media included shots of Kim preparing for the summit on his plane and lounging in at the luxury resort in Singapore, where the summit was held.
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WNU Editor: President Obama bowing to the Saudi King .... President Trump returning a salute to a Korean General who was not sure on how to respond to the President offering a hand .... this means nothing to me. But man-o-man .... from what I am reading in social media and the main stream's media on what they think of this salute .... it means everything. And in the meantime, the really big story behind this video is being ignored (see my commentary here) .... North Korea State Media Airs An Incredible Video From The Trump-Kim Summit.
18 comments:
It only means something if you see an enemy in everyone and of course, hate Trump. On cnn they have a panel discussing the meaning. And their credentials are: opinions.
Omfg please take cnn off the air it's unbearable haha
Was just listening to NPR talking about this, they were seething over the salute...but like you (WNU) I was waiting for them to bring up Obamas bowing streak, but of course they didn't.
Anon,
The Canadian press is going bonkers over this.
N. Korea a repressive, totalitarian state that threatens to destroy US and S. Korea...they dumped nonstop on Obama and this is hardly in the same ballpark (our allies) if you were not so defensive...imagine saluting a Nazi SS officer
Even worse Fred, what if it was a confederate general???
Saluting a Nazi SS officer .... hmmm ....
President Obama shook the hands of Raoul Castro .... a leader of a repressive totalitarian state that imprisoned and killed hundreds of thousands of its citizens, and forced out millions. A country that also permitted Soviet nuclear missiles to be deployed, and during the height of the Cuban missile crisis, Fidel Castro demanded that Khrushchev launch its missiles against the U.S.. Should we make a decision and not deal with Cuba? Should we make a decision and not deal with North Korea? Did President Obama do the right thing by opening up to Cuba? Is President Trump doing the right thing with North Korea? I am more than happy to have that debate.
I was going to respond to this on the other thread but time was and still is limited. Saluting an NK officer...lets see hand shakes with Castro, how many billions were transferred to Iran without even a signed deal, routinely buddying up to the Palestinians, and the other examples pointed out here. This hardly seems worthy of such outrage as has been demonstrated by certain media pundits.
It seems to have come about because POTUS wanted to shake hands with an NK officer. The officer was not sure what to do and so he saluted. DJT then returned the salute. In this setting to have not behaved with respect would have been insulting and would have been worse than counterproductive. Perhaps we need to work on cultural protocols for the next meeting.
Given what has been achieve to date with the lessening of tensions, the start of productive relations, and an agreement that will need to be fleshed out as to the details for nuclear disarmament, this seems hardly worthy of the outrage it is getting especially given the achievements to date. I will reiterate that there is still much that can go wrong and if this does not work out there are other options we can pursue.
"Is president Trump doing the right thing with North Korea?" The people who matter in South Korea, the leadership, seems to think so and there seems to be high approval ratings among the public in SK who are most familiar with the issue on a daily basis for this approach. Furthermore, while there is still much that can go wrong, the initial results seem positive. As such, continuing the current approach seems advisable.
"I am more than happy to have that debate." While my time to comment is going to be very limited for awhile due to work and family situations, it is a worthy debate. The pre-Trump approach did not seem to be working. This approach has thus far yielded positive results. Perhaps there is a third way that might be preferable.
B. Poster,
You are right about the need to work out cultural protocols. When I was a minor diplomat this was one of my responsibilities .... how to present yourself to the other side in such a formal and professional setting. This was clearly not done here, but considering how fast this summit was put together, not surprising.
I wonder how Kim took his officer saluting an American president. Trump may have saved his life by saluting back. North Korean cheerleaders were scared to clap for an American team, so who knows.
WNU,
Thank you for your insight as a diplomat. When I was in college, I had a professor who was an executive for a large corporation who for much of his career worked internationally. He devoted considerable time to discussing with us the need to properly present oneself appropriately in the other country. In fact, big corporations had people who this was their job to ensure that this was done properly. I think it a reasonable assumption that such functions still exist today within large corporations.
I observed the same thing you did. This think was done FAST!! Given how fast this was done, frankly I would have expected more guffaws. Thinking about this it is actually sort of funny. Trump is presented with an NK officer and wishes to show proper respect. An BK officer is presented with the president of the United States and wishes to show the proper respect. Did either of them know this meeting was coming? Then they stumble around trying to figure out what to do. Again, as quickly as this summit was put together, it would have been impossible to account for all such variables. Then this is what they do.
Frankly as fast as this was put together I am shocked that we did not have more slip ups like this or worse. Normally you would not put something like this together this quickly if for no other reason than you don't want cultural misunderstandings to happen that could undermine the whole thing. While I cannot speak for NK, America MUST have peace. This may explain why the Americans wanted to do this so quickly. Our side feels that expediency has a greater benefit than waiting. Perhaps NK has the same issue. This could well be a congruence of interests where both sides felt the need for speed trumped (no pun intended) other concerns. In any event, I think they are going to have much of this sort of thing worked out by the next meeting.
Scott,
This is an excellent point actually. Without being experts on another country we cannot know for certain. The North Koreans do seem to be going out of their way to be respectful to the Americans. This is quite the turnaround!! While much still needs to be done and much can still go wrong, this is a welcome change.
CNN reported that that Trump was briefed on U.S. protocol, which is to not salute military officers from other countries.
Fred,
That's interesting. Thank you for the additional information. Then he made a mistake. We are human. It happens to all of us. Given the stress of the situation, I am surprised that worse breaches of protocols didn't happen on both sides. I am sure they will work on this next time. Again, this hardly seems worthy of the attention it has gotten. I sure am glad the North Koreans did not hold POTUS's attempt to be respectful and to negotiate in good faith against him and us.
In this analysis, I am assuming the CNN report is accurate. Given the past inaccuracies of the US media, this could be a dubious assumption.
I'm pretty sure president Obama made some mistakes. I do remember something about the 57 states. Everyone who matters was very forgiving of this understanding the extreme stress he was under. Anyone who is under the public eye everyday, speaks publically everyday, and interacts with in public forums on a daily basis will from time to time commit guffaws. I sure am glad the people who matter in Asia and South Korea do not appear to be holding this against him.
I'm sure our people will work on this for the next meetings. Saying or doing the wrong things could cause NK to walk. Thank God that did not happen and thank God the apparent deliberate attempt of the Canadian PM to humiliate Trump and undermine these negotiations has also apparently failed.
Just a few months ago had a top US official been in the same room with this officer this officer likely would have killed him or tried to do so. To have these men interacting together in such a positive way is quite the improvement. I sure am glad some people don't let petty small things get in the way of serious business. While much can still go wrong, the apparent lessening of tensions is a welcome development.
cnn lol please....
Haha, even if Trump would find the cure for cancer, everyone would still find something to whine about.
Lori,
I watched the video over and over again about 10 times. I had a post compiled and was ready to post it but refrained because my eyesight is poor and I was concerned and I thought I may have missed something. Here is what I saw. 1.)POTUS goes to shake the hand of the NK general. 2.)The NK general perhaps not being quite sure what to do then salutes him. 3.)POTUS then perhaps not being quite sure what to do here either then returns the salute. 4.)The parties then figure out what is expected and shake hands. 5.)Kim is nearby the entire time. After the handshake he smiles and his tension appears to ease. It does seem clear beyond a reasonable doubt that this did in fact go over well with the NK leader.
DJT has a great deal of experience at deal making and has become a master at it. The NK general is not. Based upon the events, context, and body language of the participants it is a reasonable interpretation that POTUS did this to ease tension. It clearly worked.
You are correct on the detention camps. If they are as bad as we are told, this is a huge problem that will have to be dealt with at some point. We should be under no delusions here. While this has been an excellent start, there is still much that can go wrong.
Hans,
You are so right. Thankfully we have people on both sides who are not going to let such small and petty things as this get in the way of fruitful negotiations. "Stable and focused" people do not allow such petty, insignificant, and small things distract them. Given the ridiculous and insane attacks he has had to endure, kudos to him for staying focused. For all his flaws, this, for the most part, is a "stable and focused" man.
Canadian press is still butt hurt about trumps response to the ladyboy who talked behind trumps back and assumed there was no repercussions
You are wasting time with a cnn chump
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