Kim’s Air Force One invitation

SEOUL: Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a ride home on Air Force One after a summit in Hanoi two years ago, according to a new BBC documentary.

Mr Kim and Mr Trump first engaged in a war of words and mutual threats before an extraordinary diplomatic bromance that featured headline-grabbing summits and a declaration of love by the former US president.

But no substantive progress was made, with the process deadlocked after the pair’s meeting in Hanoi broke up over sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.

According to a BBC documentary, Trump Takes on the World, the US president “stunned even the most seasoned diplomats” by offering Mr Kim a lift home on Air Force One after the 2019 summit in Vietnam.

If Mr Kim had accepted the offer, it would have put the North Korean leader — and probably some of his entourage — inside the US president’s official aircraft and seen it enter North Korean airspace, raising multiple security issues. In the event, Mr Kim turned it down.

A VERY thought provoking personal reflection on society, thank you Peter Boyer (Mercury, February 9). Your depiction of the subjective/objective nature of human consciousness and the “dark alleys” of the internet into which some venture, highlights the various ways in which we all struggle to make sense of the world - and how we choose to respond to those with different world views to our own. Definitely worth a re-read. Maybe a further piece, Peter, on what constitutes a civil society?

Carolyn Emden

Bellerive