LAST month Moon Jae-in, erstwhile puppet of American imperialists, stood in the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, and promised a new…
LAST month Moon Jae-in, erstwhile puppet of American imperialists, stood in the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, and promised a new era of shared prosperity as 150,000 North Koreans cheered. The next day he and Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator, climbed (well, were driven) to the top of Mount Paektu, the Korean peninsula’s sacred peak, where they put together the tips of their thumbs and index fingers to form a heart-shape in a gesture more commonly used by K-pop stars to show appreciation for their fans.
This week South and North Korean soldiers began clearing mines along their heavily fortified border. As The Economist went to press, America’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was about to fly to Pyongyang to arrange a second summit meeting between President Donald Trump and Mr Kim, to follow the television spectacular starring the two leaders in Singapore in June. Meanwhile, Mr Kim’s fourth get-together with Mr Moon is planned for later this year in Seoul, the South Korean capital.
It is all so unprecedented that it is surreal. A year ago Mr Kim was firing missiles and conducting an underground nuclear test, his country’s sixth. Mr Trump promised “fire and fury” against “Little Rocket Man”. Now he jokes that he “fell in love” with Mr Kim in Singapore and says that one year on is “a much different time”.
This week in Seoul Banyan pinched himself when he saw a huge photograph of the gathering on Mount Paektu hanging across the façade of City Hall, a beaming Mr Moon holding Mr Kim’s hand high. Remember, Mr Kim executed his uncle, assassinated his half-brother and keeps hundreds of thousands of his citizens in gulags. Praising the North Korean state or even reading its propaganda remains a crime in the South.
