Photo op or not, Trump is the first sitting US president to enter North Korea in history. President Trump said that the US and North Korean teams were working on “final stages of working out just a very quick meeting” between himself and Kim Jong Un. “I look forward to saying hello to him if that all finally works out,” Trump said at a lunch with President Moon Jae-in.
It also marked the return of negotiations between the leaders since negotiations ended when talks broke down during a summit in Vietnam in February. Only Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have visited North Korea and they both did so after the had left the office.
“Stepping across that line was a great honor,” Trump said after the two walked toward each other and shook hands, making him the first sitting president to cross the demarcation line between North and South Korea.
Trump said since the meeting in Singapore there were lots of danger in the area but since its improved tremendous. Trump said, “It’s all working out. It always works out.” He also spoke with American and South Korean troops and made them aware he appreciates them and backs them 100%.
The troops even gifted the president a jacket that bears the name of the Korean commands stationed there. They had some nice word for the president especially since he a golf aficionado. “We hope that when you wear this on the golf course, you think about strength and the very nature of our alliance.”
People in the military industrial complex have warmed the precedent that meetings like these give the North Korean dictator legitimacy. They also argue its counterproductive because it defeats the purpose of getting rid of their nuclear weapons.
I applaud this president on his foreign policy tactics. Like I said before he has made perhaps the most extension in diplomacy more than anyone in history for progress with so many countries possessing nuclear weapons. This was a major day in diplomacy.