Kim Jong-un's gravitational force pulls Donald Trump into North Korea

Kim Jong-un's gravitational force pulls Donald Trump into North Korea

Moments later, Trump brought Kim back over the dividing line between the two Koreas for a meeting, where they agreed to start working-level talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

FPJ News ServiceUpdated: Monday, July 01, 2019, 06:48 AM IST
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. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB |

Panmunjom: Donald Trump is more of a statesman than all of us presumed he was. On Sunday, he strolled into North Korean territory – the first US President to do so – and shook hands with the mercurial dictator Kim Jong-un.

Moments later, Trump brought Kim back over the dividing line between the two Koreas for a meeting, where they agreed to start working-level talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

A man with penchant for drama, Trump revelled in the historical moment, which he had arranged with a surprise invitation via Twitter barely 24 hours earlier.

Never before had American and North Korean leaders gotten together at the military demarcation line, where heavily armed forces have faced off across a tense divide for 66 years since the end of fighting in the Korean War.

Standing in the no-man's-land, which is often referred to as the world's last Cold War frontier, Kim said through a translator, ‘‘This has a lot of significance because it means that we want to bring an end to the unpleasant past and are trying to create a new future; so, it's a very courageous and determined act.’’

As Kim said so, he beamed and swayed from side to side as is his signature style. Trump said he had invited the young leader to the White House "anytime he wants to". "It's a great day for the world and it's an honour for me to be here," the US president said. "A lot of great things are happening."

Trump's entry onto North Korean soil -- which he said was uncertain until the last moment -- is an extraordinary sequel to the scene at Kim's first summit with Moon last year, when the young leader invited the South Korean to walk over the Military Demarcation Line, as the border is officially known.

The Trump-Kim meeting has the "potential to kick-start stalled negotiations", an analyst told AFP, but added that working-level discussions would be crucial. "What we need is substance, not theatrics."

Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst now with RAND Corporation, said the North's "gravitational force has pulled Trump across the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas", calling it an "alluring elixir of wile, threatening rhetoric, stalling, and dangling of the remote possibility of resuming dialogue".

Such a meeting has long been sought by the North, but "Kim didn't have to lift a finger to get Trump to cross the DMZ", she added. "It was, in all appearances, by Trump's volition."

The encounter in Panmunjom had been cast as a brief handshake, not a formal negotiation, but the two ended up together for a little more than an hour, reports New York Times.

After emerging from their conversation, Trump said he and Kim had agreed to designate negotiators to resume talks in the next few weeks, four months after they collapsed at a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

BJP brat ready for some more ballebazi

about the case from the party's Madhya Pradesh unit even as Vjayvargiya's supporters rallied behind him and camped outside the jail where he was imprisoned. Posters with "Salute Akash ji" written on them came up in the city, though they were later removed. 21 municipal officers were also suspended for supporting Akash. Main input ANI

Faith goes beyond my attire: Nusra .....I still remain a Muslim....And none should comment on what I choose to wear.....Faith is beyond attire."

She commented on her tweet that faith "is more about believing and practicing the invaluable doctrines of religion." Many people have come in Jahan's support, including women leaders of the ruling BJP at the Centre. Don’t care: Dubai ruler to runaway wife

She is understood to have taken 31 million pounds with her to start a new life, reports say. Oxford-educated Princess Haya has not been seen in public since May 20 and her social media accounts, which are usually full of photos of her charitable work, have not been active since February.

Unconfirmed reports in Arab media say that a German diplomat helped the princess "escape" from Dubai, leading to a potential diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

It is claimed that German authorities refused a request from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum to return his wife to Dubai. Two sources close to the Dubai royal family were cited as saying by media reports that Princess Haya has indeed left the country and is seeking a divorce.

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