# Historic moment US President crosses DMZ into N Korea. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304 "2019-06-30T15:51:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/1 "2019-06-30T15:51:23Z")
Every now and then our current President does something right. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. ;) I must admit this impromptu meeting caught me off guard. I think it caught Kim off guard too. Talks are scheduled to resume in a couple weeks. Anytime we’re talking and not saber rattling is a very good thing. IMHO Sometimes a bold and unexpected gesture can work. I’m encouraged that the stalemated talks are resuming. I vividly remember Nixon’s surprise announcement of the Ping Pong diplomacy. Exchanging table tennis players didn’t seem like a big deal, but it ultimately lead to a new relationship with China. > **[Ping-pong diplomacy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping-pong_diplomacy)** > > Ping-pong diplomacy (Chinese: 乒乓外交; pinyin: Pīngpāng wàijiāo) refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States and the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. Considered a turning point in relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China, it began during the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, as a result of an encounter between players Glenn Cowan (of the US) and Zhuang Zedong (of the PRC). The exchange and i... I’d appreciate it if we could keep this thread focused on N Korea and the possibility of a negotiated easement of tensions. I’m well aware of Trump’s shortcomings and they’ve already been discussed in hundreds of angry posts. Trump will never change and he’ll probably do something in the next day or two that pisses everyone off. At least his shoot from the hip approach seems to have worked this time. [https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/29/politics/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-dmz-north-korea/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F](https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/29/politics/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-dmz-north-korea/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F) > [@](#): > > “Would you like me to step across?” Trump asked Kim as they shook hands. “I am OK with it.” > > While inside North Korean territory, Trump and Kim shook hands and patted each other’s backs before returning across the border to the South after about a minute. > > “I never expected to meet you at this place,” Kim, who appeared overjoyed in the moment, told Trump through an interpreter. > \ > > After the historic handshake, the two men met inside the Freedom House at the DMZ for just under an hour – a more substantial session than Trump previewed earlier when he said his encounter with Kim would amount to little more than a handshake. > > The moment marks a milepost in the United States’ fraught history with North Korea, but what it means beyond a display of friendship wasn’t immediately clear. > > There did not appear to be any new commitments made in Trump’s 50-minute meeting with Kim beyond an agreement to restart talks. And Trump himself said afterward he was in no rush to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. > > Still, the meeting and historic border crossing have broken a stalemate in the talks that hasn’t broken since Trump walked out of his last meeting with Kim in Vietnam four months ago. > > Trump said negotiating teams would begin meeting in a matter of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/2 "2019-06-30T16:03:19Z")
CNN reports… "U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held secret discussions at the DMZ to set up the meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean president Kim Jong Un, a U.S. senior official tells CNN. The discussions were held the night before the two leaders met. " … Setting something like this up overnight is impressive. Diplomacy tends to move at a snail’s pace. Stephen Biegun earned his paycheck this week. > **[DMZ: Donald Trump steps into North Korea with Kim Jong Un -- live updates](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-dmz-kim-live-intl-hnk/h_89f9f909c6772d8279a4d8de9fe7155f)** > > US President Donald Trump is heading to the DMZ, where he hopes to "shake hands" with Kim Jong Un. Here's the latest. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/3 "2019-06-30T16:10:42Z")
Embracing a mass murderer and giving legitimacy to a brutal regime is getting it right? I’d hate to see getting it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/4 "2019-06-30T16:19:20Z")
North and South Korea have massive amounts of artillery aimed at each other. It’s been like that since the negotiated cease fire. Seoul would be obliterated within days. N Korea has very little infrastructure and has almost nothing to lose. The possibility of Nuclear weapons makes the loss of life even more appalling. The relationship with the N Korean government will probably never be friendly. Hopefully we can find a way to ease tensions and avoid the annihilation of millions of innocent people. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/5 "2019-06-30T16:46:19Z")
Two Great Leaders standing together as Equals. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Every now and then our current President does something right. I disagree and take the opposite view. Trump has given Kim Jong-un two summits and a “historic meeting”, yet has received nothing in return (except for “love letters”). Take a look at the [list of North Korean missile tests](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_Korean_missile_tests) on Wikipedia - their frequency has increased under Trump’s tenure. Trump has done nothing except diminish the United States’ international reputation and increase Kim Jong-un’s personal prestige. The signature features of Trump’s foreign policy are cosying up with murderous autocratic dictators, such as Putin, Kim Jong-un and bin Salman, and alienating traditional democratic allies, such as N.A.T.O. and the E.U. I don’t see how Trump’s actions in North Korea can be seen as anything other than shameful and embarrassing for the United States. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/6 "2019-06-30T16:57:51Z")
I’ve been reading about the economic importance of S Korea. Forbes published an article in 2015. They play an important role in the Worldwide economy. The loss of these exports would be felt everywhere. The Forbes article is discussing a mild economic downturn. Imagine the effects of a destructive war on the Korean Peninsula. I was building PC’s in the late 90’s and a earthquake damaged a chip factory in Japan. Memory chip prices went up substantially. The factory in S Korea was the only major supplier. I had trouble even finding memory that was compatible with motherboards I was upgrading for customers. The market didn’t get straightened out for over a year. I don’t know how the electronics industry could cope with the damage to manufacturing if war ever breaks out in that region. > **[South Korea: The Seoul Of The World's Economy](https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterpham/2015/09/09/south-korea-the-seoul-of-the-worlds-economy/amp/)** > > Shipping containers await departure at Busan New Port in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday, July 30, 2015. Meanwhile, South Korean export figures are sending shock waves throughout the world economy. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Asian... > [@](#): > > Currently, the country is the world’s sixth largest exporter. The nation boasts the world’s largest shipyard run by Hyundai Heavy Industries and one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers, Hyundai Motors. In addition, they are Asia’s top gasoline exporter and home to electronics giant and major exporter Samsung Electronics. > \ > The significance cannot be overstated. Exports account for 41% of South Korea’s total economic output; such a rapid drop could spell disaster if it becomes an ongoing trend. The country is known as a bellwether for global trade, perhaps it is an indicator that global economic situation is far more precarious than most think. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/7 "2019-06-30T17:04:20Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Two Great Leaders standing together as Equals. > > I disagree and take the opposite view. Trump has given Kim Jong-un two summits and a “historic meeting”, yet has received nothing in return (except for “love letters”). Take a look at the [list of North Korean missile tests](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_Korean_missile_tests) on Wikipedia - their frequency has increased under Trump’s tenure. Trump has done nothing except diminish the United States’ international reputation and increase Kim Jong-un’s personal prestige. > > The signature features of Trump’s foreign policy are cosying up with murderous autocratic dictators, such as Putin, Kim Jong-un and bin Salman, and alienating traditional democratic allies, such as N.A.T.O. and the E.U. > > I don’t see how Trump’s actions in North Korea can be seen as anything other than shameful and embarrassing for the United States. I agree this negotiation may not go anywhere. We still have to keep our forces in S Korea and keep the pressure on. We’ve tried ignoring N Korea and that didn’t work. Let’s see where talking leads. The regime will always be brutal and dangerous. The world can never forget that. The situation was spiralling out of control a few years ago. The missiles shot out to sea were alarming to many countries. A miscalculation by N Korea could have triggered a war. Some solution needs to be found. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/8 "2019-06-30T17:29:17Z")
Normal leaders use things like summits to make agreements, so that things of actual substance emerge from them. Trump just sees them as photo opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/9 "2019-06-30T20:10:37Z")
Do they have to send him back? Take our president. Please! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/10 "2019-06-30T20:31:33Z")
There’s doing something then there’s the “Why?” of doing something. Nixon going to China, meeting Mao, etc. had a very good “Why?” behind it. Trump on the day before this [meeting](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-dictators-jim-acosta-reporters_n_5d17fee4e4b07f6ca57e7974): he gets along better with dictators than the American Press. He was just visiting a role model. This is not good. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/11 "2019-07-01T00:26:41Z")
So the U.S. president has stepped foot into a murderous dictatorship, and has been “honored” in doing so. Is there no limit to that man’s desecration? Remember Otto Warmbier. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/12 "2019-07-01T00:55:07Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I disagree and take the opposite view. Trump has given Kim Jong-un two summits and a “historic meeting”, yet has received nothing in return (except for “love letters”). This. Trump started out with ridiculous tough talk, flipped on a dime and went to obsequious fawning on a dangerous dictator, and he’s achieved exactly nothing. If Trump does make a “deal”, relaxing sanctions in exchange for … whatever, I don’t see Kim adhering to the terms once goods start flowing into the country. They’ll resume nuclear development “in secret” giving Trump plausible deniability to keep promote his “historic deal”. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/13 "2019-07-01T01:29:26Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Do they have to send him back? > > Take our president. Please! No kidding. I’m surprise he didn’t CHOOSE to stay, since he likes them so much. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/14 "2019-07-01T02:42:57Z")
You might want to consider having the thread title changed. The DMV is not the DMZ. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/15 "2019-07-01T03:22:15Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Embracing a mass murderer and giving legitimacy to a brutal regime is getting it right? Yeah, I’m surprised Kim would allow himself to be seen with Trump. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/16 "2019-07-01T03:38:00Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You might want to consider having the thread title changed. The DMV is not the DMZ. Reported for title fix. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/17 "2019-07-01T03:40:11Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > The DMV is not the DMZ. Hard to tell the difference sometimes… (Also, I’d love to see Trump and Kim go to the DMV) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/18 "2019-07-01T04:53:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Reported for title fix. …but not before I documented the sequential threads. 🙂 [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21726065&postcount=845](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21726065&postcount=845) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/19 "2019-07-01T05:22:07Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@panache45](#): > > Reported for title fix. Fixed. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304/20 "2019-07-01T05:43:25Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You might want to consider having the thread title changed. The DMV is not the DMZ. Good Catch. Thank you I read the title several times and didn’t notice the typo. Glad the mod’s fixed it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-moment-us-president-crosses-dmz-into-n-korea/836304.md?page=2)