North Korea is fawning over the 'amazing' Trump-Kim DMZ meeting. U.S. media is treating it like reality TV.

(Image credit: Handout/Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images)

last updated 1 July 2019

In North Korea, the state-run KCNA news agency declared the whirlwind meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump at the DMZ on Sunday an "amazing event" made possible by a "bold, brave decision" by the two leaders and the "unprecedented trust between the two countries" that has blossomed under Kim and Trump's relationship.

American reporters wondered what the U.S. got out of Trump legitimizing and praising an oppressive rogue nuclear regime that is still openly testing ballistic missies. "Why does Kim Jong Un deserve this moment?" Bloomberg News' Margaret Talev asked Trump at a press conference before the meeting. Trump complained that "only the fake news" says he hasn't made tremendous strides toward fixing the North Korea problem. Trump's visit to the DMZ and steps into North Korea were played extensively on cable news, and the news coverage often sounded like political theater review.

In 2017, Trump "secretly planned to walk right up to the North Korean border to show Kim Jong Un that America would stand up to his brutal regime," and "in 2019, Trump publicly implored Kim to meet him at that same border in order to smile, shake hands, and discuss the future the two countries could bring about together," says Politico's Anita Kumar. "It was a dramatic turnaround that showed how Trump, groomed in reality TV and the flashy New York real estate world, can use the same exact camera-friendly, symbolic location for completely different theatrical gestures."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

"In classic Trumpian fashion, the nation's first reality-show president built up the suspense of his third meeting with Kim like a seasoned television producer," reports The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim. After the DMZ meeting, as Trump "watched Moon and Kim share an embrace, and Kim began returning to North Korea," she adds, "Trump couldn't help but clap — briefly, but excitedly — as the day wound to a close."

Explore More

Speed Reads

To continue reading this article...

Create a free account

Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.

Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.

Cancel or pause at any time.

Already a subscriber to The Week?

Unlimited website access is included with Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions.
with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.

Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox