After summit, N. Korea shows Trump in a striking new light

Associated Press

PYONGYANG, N. Korea

North Koreans are getting a new look at President Donald Trump. They see him shaking hands with Kim Jong Un at their historic summit in Singapore, and even awkwardly saluting a three-star general. It’s a far cry from the “dotard” label their government slapped on him last year.

Previously, even on a good day, the best he might get was “Trump.” No honorifics. No signs of respect. Now, he’s being called “the president of the United States of America.” Or “President Donald J. Trump.”

Even “supreme leader.”

The post-summit transformation of North Korea’s official version of Trump, who’s now being shown by state media looking serious and almost regal, underscores the carefully choreographed reality show the government has had to perform to keep its people, taught from childhood to hate and distrust the “American imperialists,” ideologically on board with the tectonic shifts underway in their country’s relationship with Washington.

With a time lag that suggests a great deal of care and thought went into the final product, the North’s state-run television aired its first videos and photos of the summit Thursday, two days after the event and a full day after Kim returned home to Pyongyang, the capital.

To be sure, the star of the show was Kim. Trump’s first appearance and the now famous handshake didn’t come until almost 20 minutes into the 42-minute program.

To the dramatic, almost song-like intonations of the nation’s most famous newscaster, the program depicted Kim as statesmanlike beyond his years, confident and polite, quick to smile and firmly in control. He was shown allowing the older American – Trump, in his seventies, is more than twice Kim’s age – to lean in toward him to shake hands, or give a thumbs up, then walking a few steps ahead to a working lunch.

The program also showed an awkward moment of Trump reaching out to shake the hand of a North Korean general, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces No Kwang Chol, who instead saluted the American president. Trump saluted the officer in return, and the two then shook hands. In another scene, he moved a chair with his foot instead of his hands. Both elicited giggles from North Koreans watching the program.

Before showing Trump and Kim signing their joint statement, the newscaster said Trump made a point of giving Kim a look at his armored Cadillac limousine, and noted that it is known to Americans as “the Beast.” She also at one point called them the “two supreme leaders” of their countries.

The state media’s representation of the summit and Trump is important because it gives the North Korean population, which has only limited access to other news sources, an idea not just of what’s going on but also of how the government expects them to respond.

For the average North Korean, the state media’s coverage of Kim’s diplomatic blitz this year must seem nothing short of astonishing.