South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un make a toast during a banquet in Pyongyang. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS
Daily Mail: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and South Korea's President Moon raise toast to peace talks as they indulge in a lavish banquet in Pyongyang
* Korean leaders 'toasted' to peace at talks at lavish banquet in Pyongyang during first day of summit
* South Korean President Moon Jae-in hugged Kim Jong Un as the two leaders met for third time this year
* Hundreds lined the tarmac at Pyongyang international airport to call for 'reunification' of the divided country
* Pair pledged 'frank and open-minded' discussion in peace talks after driving through capital in open-top car
* State-run news said the public cheering will not lead the North Korean dictator to end his nuclear program
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in 'toasted' to peace at talks held during a lavish banquet in Pyongyang.
The two Korean leaders clinked red wine glasses today during the summit at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in the North's capital.
Before the dinner, South Korea's president and the North's leader drove together through the streets of Pyongyang in an open top parade past cheering crowds before opening the talks.
Thousands of citizens, holding bouquets and chanting in unison for 'Reunification of the country', lined the streets as Kim and Moon rode through the city in an open-topped vehicle, passing the Kumsusan Palace where Kim's predecessors - his father and grandfather - lie in state.
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WNU Editor: The North Koreans do not have much, but they are doing everything possible to make sure that the climate and atmosphere for these reconciliation talks are a positive one, and from what I have seen, they have been successful. Of course the talks and the deal-making that will now occur is a different story, but I am optimistic that a lot of good will come out of this when it is over. On another note, North Korean leader Kim is correct on this point .... North Korea's Kim says summit with Trump stabilized region, sees more progress (Reuters), and if they can accomplish this by the end of this year/beginning of 2019 .... A look at the Koreas’ push for formal end to Korean War (Japan Times/AP), it will be an incredible accomplishment finishing an incredible year in Korean relations.
1 comment:
The media narrative on this has been "nothing happened in Singapore." To the best I can tell, this remains the general narrative even though events on the ground such as this contradict such a narrative.
Men like Moon Jae-Inn, Kim Jong Un, and Mike Pompeo are nothing new to this equation. The only new variable is President Trump. As such, I suspect it is a reasonable conclusion that he deserves the lion's share of the credit for the progress that has been made to date. With that said I will reiterate what I have said here and elsewhere many, many times. there is still much that can go wrong.
As to bringing a modicum of stability to the region, I think this may be spot on. An often overlooked aspect to this is during the campaign Candidate Trump called out South Korea by name as an overwhelming beneficiary of American largess. Essentially that sent a message loud and clear that the US could not be expected to serve as the military arm of South Korea's foreign policy indefinitely and the days of America being South Korea b!tch boy were finally coming to an end. As such, this very likely provided them with much incentive to try and make peace with North Korea.
Also, getting the Summit where POTUS and the leader of North Korea shared the stage cannot be over emphasized in my opinion. Never before had the US position or by extension that of South Korea been legitimized in this fashion. Essentially this gained a huge level of prestige for America by getting this done. While symbolic, such symbolism can go along way especially when dealing with authoritarian cultures where strength is respected and weakness is not.
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