Incredible as it was, yes, it did happen right there on the world stage: both Korean leaders in jest mood, hand in hand, and casually tap dancing across both borders as if in a Seinfeld segment sketch. Wow !…what a performance…Kim Jong Un deserves an academy award for the stunningly cool manner in which he strolled across the 38th parallel as if the past 65 years hadn’t existed.
Having covered East Asia as a foreign correspondent since 2008 I must confess even as a seasoned reporter and former Nam and Mid East war correspondent I have never seen anything comparable to what happened in Korea today.
This seems like the start of a beautiful relationship between the two Koreas, especially noting the unbelievable cordiality between their leaders. Even though thousands of miles away the people of Central California I’m sure would have been watching it live on TV from the army of media assembled in Seoul and would have also been very surprised at the magnificent red carpet presentation South Korea designed to welcome for the first time ever a North Korean leader. If only western politicians could bury hatchets and be so magnanimous towards each other.
The next step is, as Kim Jong Un declared, the formal ending of the Korean War ahead of Donald Trump’s meeting with Kim, a further amazing factor is the two Koreas did it on their own without American or any other foreign power’s involvement and that’s the way, idealistically, how it should be done…two neighbors resolving their differences in a civilized manner.
If things keep flowing with this wonderful mutual spirit we can expect an imminent peace treaty, hopefully complete dismantling of North Korea’s nukes and even optimistically its chemical and other deadly WMD. If this miracle occurred in sequence The Korean peninsula’s economy, tourism, investments and overall prosperity should soar.