North Korea’s state media aired a lengthy feature on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s diplomatic relationship with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam.
The talks between Trump and Kim last week ended after the pair failed to reach an agreement on walking back North Korea’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump said that Pyongyang demanded an end to all sanctions, while the North claimed it had only wanted some of the measures eased.
Researchers this week said that Pyongyang was rebuilding the Sohae long-range rocket site after Kim last year agreed to shutter it as part of confidence-building measures.
However, the North made no mention of these issues in a 75-minute documentary of Kim’s trip to Hanoi aired late on Wednesday on Korean Central Television.
A 10-minute clip focused on Trump and Kim exchanging smiles and handshakes as they walked in the gardens of the Metropole Hotel, the venue of the summit.
The meeting had reaffirmed that the US and North Korea can overcome their seven decades of hostility and “open a new future” if they come to negotiations with “a fair proposal,” the official broadcaster said.
The feature showed Kim, puffing a cigarette, holding a late-night meeting at his hotel with his aides on the eve of his summit with the US president.
The documentary did not refer to the pair’s discussions on denuclearization — the key sticking point between Washington and Pyongyang — but said the two had agreed “to continue productive talks to resolve pending issues.”
“The second summit was an important opportunity to deepen respect and trust for each other and to bring the two countries’ relations to a new level,” the documentary said.
Standing in the hall of the Metropole, Trump shook hands with the North Korean delegation and Kim appeared to tell the US leader: “Let’s meet again.”
The documentary showed Kim’s 11-day trip to Hanoi in chronological order, from his departure at Pyongyang train station to his early morning return to a cheering crowd.
It also featured Kim’s official visit to Hanoi on March 1 and 2, including old clips of meetings between his late grandfather, former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, and Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh in 1958 and 1964 to highlight the countries’ decades-old friendship.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia