Trump draws some flak for salute

North Korea put its own spin on the historic meeting between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump in a video that aired on state television Thursday.

In the United States, the footage is drawing attention for an exchange between Trump and a North Korean general that was unseen in international coverage of the event.

While greeting North Korean dignitaries after his initial handshake with Kim, Trump proceeded down the line shaking hands, the video shows. When Trump offered his hand to Gen. No Kwangchol, who was recently promoted to defense chief, the general saluted instead.

Trump quickly raised his own hand and saluted back, a gesture that is now drawing debate over military and diplomatic protocol.

The 42-minute-long video aired on the state-run KCTV and was enthusiastically presented by North Korean television mainstay Ri Chun-hee. Much of the program, which followed Kim throughout his trip, was overlaid with soaring patriotic music and breathless narration.

Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, a retired U.S. Army general, criticized the president's salute in a statement.

“It is wholly inappropriate for the commander in chief of our armed forces to salute the military of our adversary, especially one which is responsible for a regime of terror, murder and unspeakable horror against its own people,” Eaton said.

Others pointed out that with North and South Korea still technically at war (a formal armistice was never signed), it was inappropriate for Trump to salute the general of an adversary.

Others defended the salute, pointing out that No had initiated it and saying that Trump was being polite in return.

As commander in chief, presidents have long been saluted, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that President Ronald Reagan began returning the gesture. Since then, presidents often salute members of the U.S. military.

But the protocol for when it is appropriate for a president to salute those outside the U.S. military has remained murky, and former presidents have drawn criticism for their saluting etiquette.

President Barack Obama was criticized in 2014 for saluting a military officer while holding a cup of coffee.