Kim Jong-un may look friendly making the Korean heart symbol – but we should see past the optics.
This photo of Kim Jong-un trying to form a South Korean gesture of friendship has melted hearts in Seoul.
But focusing on this one image means losing sight of the bigger picture.
For the uninitiated, the Korean heart is formed if you put the tips of your thumb and index finger together.
It started as a gesture of love used by K-pop stars to thank their fans, and has morphed into the pose of choice for selfies with friends in South Korea.
We first heard about Mr Kim’s attempt at the gesture from a spokesman for South Korea’s Blue House, who told a press conference that he tried to do it alongside South Korean cabinet ministers.
“How do you do it? I can’t quite make the shape,” Mr Kim was quoted as saying.
It was another Instagram moment for the North Korean leader. We saw one when he took President Moon’s hand on their very first meeting and helped him across the line dividing their two countries.
We saw it in the selfies during his walkabout in Singapore the night before his summit with Donald Trump.
These social media-friendly snapshots have prompted many in the South to describe him on Twitter as misunderstood, or even cute.
They are taking this gesture made at the sacred and mythical home of the Korean nation as a sign he is serious about developing a relationship with the South.
It’s easy to be swept up by the burgeoning friendship beamed onto our screens.
I was watching the images from Mount Baekdu stream into the press room and it was difficult to recognise Kim Jong-un as the “madman’, “maniac’ and “sick puppy’ that President Trump described last year.
The young leader was laughing and joking with President Moon and his wife. They all clutched hands by the pristine lake.
It was a moment of unity in a beautiful setting that would have been unthinkable this time last year.
“We had a small group today but in the near future, we hope many South Koreans and expats will be able to come here,” the North Korean leader said.
“We should write another chapter of history between the North and the South by reflecting our new history on this Heaven Lake.”
Is this really the murderous dictator with a nuclear arsenal that we are told is a global threat?
And then, a few days later the Blue House released the photographs of Mr Kim forming the heart.
It is designed to play to a South Korean audience. To further soften his image as he starts to gain almost celebrity status in the South.
There was even a suggestion that they could use it as a screensaver.
What has gone unsaid is that with a click of those same fingers, Mr Kim could put an end to the crimes against humanity committed in North Korea.
With just one command he could free tens of thousands of political prisoners from gulags, including six South Koreans, many of whom are forced to do hard labour.
