Handshake to bring Kim in from the cold
NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong Un chose the icy setting of the Winter Olympics yesterday to launch a charm offensive aimed at thawing relations with South Korea.
His younger sister Kim Yo Jong shook hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and gave him a handwritten note inviting him to take part in a summit at ‘the earliest possible date’.
Moon responded by saying: ‘Let us make it happen by creating the necessary conditions in the future.’
If it does take place, the meeting would be the first time the heads of state from North and South Korea have met for a decade.
Ms Kim, 30, the regime’s propaganda chief and an increasingly influential figure in North Korea, is the first member of Pyongyang’s ruling dynasty to set foot in the South since the end of the Korean war in 1953. She was accompanied by Kim Yong-nam, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state.
The two sides spoke for three hours over lunch at the presidential palace in Seoul. Treats on the menu included kimchi – Korean pickled cabbage – and soju rice liquor.
According to reports, Ms Kim left a note at the palace expressing hope that ‘Pyongyang and Seoul will become closer in the heart of Koreans’ and for ‘unification and prosperity in the near future’.
Earlier, the pair had exchanged pleasantries. ‘You must have had a hard time due to the cold weather,’ Moon said as he greeted Ms Kim. ‘It was OK because you, Mr President, were kind enough to care,’ she reportedly replied.
Despite the early signs of relations thawing, the reaction from America r e mained deci dedly frosty. US Vice President Mike Pence snubbed t he l unch and avoided any interaction with Ms Kim when they sat just feet apart at the spectacular opening ceremony. He only stood up for the US team, even though other dignitaries rose to their feet to applaud the joint arrival of athletes from both North and South Korea.
Later, Pence echoed the tough stance being taken by Donald Trump against Kim Jong Un’s continued nuclear tests. He told NBC News: ‘ We’re going to continue to put all the pressure to bear economically and diplomatically, while preserving our military options.’
The day before t he opening ceremony, Kim Jong Un staged a massive military parade with t rucks carrying missiles t hat could be capable of striking the US mainland.