Speaking to the North Korean parliament this morning, Kim Jong-un admitted:
“Thought the period of implementing the Five-Year Strategy for the National Economic Development ended last year it tremendously fell short of its goals in almost every sector”
The 12-second handshake will go down in history: the first time a President of the United States has met a North Korean leader. A monumental summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump took place at a luxury hotel in Singapore overnight. As they walked off side-by-side after shaking hands, Kim said to Trump (through an interpreter):
“Many people in the world will think of this as a form of fantasy from a science fiction movie.”
Here’s what happened…
The pair enjoyed a working lunch and a joint stroll together around the hotel grounds. They then signed a document – not yet officially released – stating:
“President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Kim has already left. A press conference with President Trump is expected to get underway now. Tough morning for Trump critics…
The world is waking up to new hope for peace on the Korean peninsula after an historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in overnight. The North Korean dictator shook hands with the South Korean President at the Joint Security Area in the truce village of Panmunjon. Moon briefly stood in North Korea with Kim before the two departed for talks, including on the North’s now suspended ICBM tests. The White House also released pics of Kim meeting CIA director Mike Pompeo over Easter. All eyes now on Trump’s summit with Kim which looks likely to go ahead…
When foreign affairs leads the news thoughts naturally turn to Jeremy Corbyn. The visit must be making interesting watching in the leader’s office, especially for top aide and general election campaign chief Andrew Murray, who is on record saying:
“We should also be alert to the very real dangers in the Fareast and around Peoples Korea. The clear desire of the USA to effect regime change in its second axis of evil target could well provoke an armed clash there, too. Our Party has already made its basic position of solidarity with Peoples Korea clear.”
Trump will end up with the peace prize at this rate. It’ll be entertaining watching those who want to ban the President from London today…
With the Venezuela crisis and now the North Korea stand-off dominating the headlines, it’s an awkward August on the foreign affairs front for the Leader’s Office. Surprise surprise, Jez hasn’t exactly taken a tough line on Kim Jong-un’s pariah dictatorship and its ambition to unleash a global apocalypse, previously opposing sanctions and suggesting its designation as a ‘rogue state’ is just a “pretext for undermining” it. Likewise, commie Corbynista campaign chief Andrew Murray expressed his “basic position of solidarity with People’s Korea”. Naturally…
Most embarrassed of all should be Seumas Milne, who was defending the ‘rationality’ of the North’s desire to develop and stockpile nukes as early as 2009. He wrote in a Guardian column:
“The idea… that there is something irrational in North Korea’s attempt to acquire nuclear weapons is clearly absurd. This is, after all, a state that has been targeted for regime change by the US ever since the end of the cold war, included as one of the select group of three in George Bush’s axis of evil in 2002, and whose Clinton administration guarantee of “no hostile intent” was explicitly withdrawn by his successor.”
So there you have it: Milne argued it was ‘rational’ for North Korea to ramp up efforts to acquire nukes, a proliferation process which has led us to where we are today. North Korea of course has made a lot of progress on literacy and equality…
