Whimsical Trump and his advances on North Korea

Update: 2019-07-02 02:08 IST

President Donald Trump recently said he would stage another dramatic encounter with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, which nobody saw coming.

Trump extended an impromptu invitation to Kim hours before departing to South Korea from the Group of 20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, offering in a tweet to meet the north Korean leader at the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas just to shake his hand and say hello.

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After a day of uncertainty, Trump announced that Kim, a dictator whom he describes as a friend and has said he is in 'love' with, accepted the offer.

Trump was making a long-scheduled trip to South Korea to meet with the country's President, Moon Je-in. But whimsical as he is, he preferred this naive jaw-dropping meet with the North Korean dictator.

Displaying his full trust in Kim, Trump decided to land at the DMZ without covering himself in bomber jacket and holding binoculars. Earlier, the US Presidents used to visit the area in solidarity with the South Koreans.

The twenty steps that Trump took towards the DMZ to greet Kim were history. Later both walked across to the 'Freedom House' on the South Korean side and held talks.

It was only recently that tensions began raising between the North and South Koreas and also between the US and North Korea. Kim had issued several strong statements against the US too. But Trump did not show any signs of desperation or anger.

Though it was stated that the meet of Trump and Kim would be short after a brief handshake, it was not to be. It was a more than an hour meet, which defied the predictions of all pundits. No doubt Donald Trump showed utter disregard for all mainstream methods of doing diplomacy, but it worked out well and the end.

The conversation was interesting indicating the friendly banter that eased tensions further, perhaps. "Would you like me to step across", Trump told Kim as they shook hands adding "I am ok with it". Kim responded, "step forward, you will be the first US President to cross the border" to Trump. Trump did it.

They continued the goodwill talk inviting each other to their homes too. Is it not unthinkable that Trump just did what he did? He has stepped into the most heavily militarised zone in the world. But that is Trump for us.

It is to be seen what it means beyond friendship for both and the world. After the last meeting in Singapore, there appeared some progress.

But the last meeting at Hanoi just collapsed when the two sides could not agree on terms of exchanging sanctions relief for relinquishing North Korea's nuclear arsenal. And the two sides have made little progress so far.

Kim knows that Trump is at his best shot at getting a deal with America. Kim is quite intelligent, one should realise. He has chosen his best moment to negotiate with the US.

Elections are just around the corner for Trump. He may or may not be elected the second term. And the new President may not be so enthusiastic as Trump to deal with Kim. One could only wish them both the very best.

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