A small step for CVID, a giant leap for Trump's ego... and North Korea's propaganda

ICYMI, from Kim-Xi to Kim-Trump-Moon, one week without crossing red lines.
=> Watch as a Twitter moment ('DMZero Progress')

'Strategic patience 2.0: Kim Jong-un tells Xi Jinping he'll be patient with Trump..." (20190622 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1142215634140319744)

'Kim Jong-un post-summit blues: "ain't no Sunshine when Xi's gone" (20190622 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1142248145620877317)

'P.S. I love you. Donald' (20190623 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1142641073040195585)

'Will Trump visit the DMZ next week? Will he meet his pen friend Kim Jong-un?' (20190623 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1142703275046686720)

'Exclusive - what Donald Trump wrote to Kim Jong-un' (20190624 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1142965266717896705)

'So we've got the answer to the first question: Trump will visit the DMZ. For the second one (Trump Kim Summit III?): Kim Jong-un's mention of DJT's 'courage' after reading his (RSVP?) letter could be a clue...' (20190624 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1143105424679288832)

'Unsurprisingly, Trump tweeted that he'd like to shake hands with Kim Jong-un at DMZ.... Expect a Moon Jae-in moment when both walk for a second on the North Korea side.' (20190629 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1144750060900458498)
'We should call them #TrumKimHandshakes, not #TrumpKimSummit. #AllFoamNoBeer' (20190629 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1144751209028304902)

'Trump strategy at the DMZ:
1 shake hands with Kim Jong-un
2 say hello
3 chat about the weather and my beautiful tweets
4 step on the other side of the MDL
5 photo ops
6 zero progress, #NorthKorea #winning

#ArtOfTheDealapidation' (20190629 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1144897818596802560)

'Watch out, Jared! Here's Harvanka - @USAmbROK' Ivanka Trump - Harry Harris (20190629 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1144977385483206658)

'Please, don't forget to wash after your courageous VX handshake!' (20190629 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1144903631012954112)

'Trump: Obama was begging to meet Kim Jong-un. In his dreams. Trump Kim Summit' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145185275355648000)

'#MoonJaein qualifies the dismantling of #Yongbyon #nuclear facility as the beginning of 'Irreversible' (#Denuclearization). But it wouldn't add a C or an actual I to #cvid' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145187518565908480)

'To the journos at #CheongWadae: does #Trump's US to Korean translator wear a #MAGA hat? Sure sounds like she does.' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145189650459267072)

'Choppers heading north... Trump Kim Summit' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145194984145952768)

'Shortly after 5~6 choppers left from downtown (above), at least 4 flew from #Yongsan. #MoonJaein joined the #DMZ ahead of #Trump for #TrumpKimSummit' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145198820831055872)

'The spaghetti western moment when #Trump & #KimJongun will walk to the demarcation line...' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145209158855090176)

'Trump realizes how close to the DMZ Seoul is...' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145209680873922562)

'Trump receives a golf gift. Not something to club Kim Jong-un to death with, mercifully.' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145216611495710720)

'Trump abducted' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145222479708745728)

'Kim Jong-un interviewed on the other side' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145222973885837313)

'We'll invite him right now to the White House' - Trump about Kim Jong-un (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145223457237434368)

'#YTN caught the threesome #MoonJaein #KimJongun #DonaldTrump' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145224179630764032)

'#Trump confirmed he'll invite #KimJongun to the #WhiteHouse. With a #MAGA hat or a #Trump2020 cap? Anyway made in #China...' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145224964376674304)

'#KimJongun totally running the show. #Trump's passive body language speaks volumes. No plans beyond shaking hands and inviting KJU to DC.' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145225767074222081)

'OMG. #Javanka in the room with #Trump & #KimJongun!' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145226661035536385)

'I love the smell of VX in the morning' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145226993253801984)

'What a Barnum. Even by #Trump standards. Journos not contained at all, positioned at the last moment, 3 heads of state thrown in the newsfeed frenzy...' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145231380755783681)

'#Trump #WhiteHouse's guestbook: #KimJongun's signature to join among others, #MBS', #alSisi's... Make Amerika Great Again
#ArtOfTheDealapidation' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145233888186269698)

'Well isn't #TuckerCarlson the Secretary of #Trump Defense on Fox?' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145234504170102784)

'Talks restart. #Nuclear proliferation doesn't stop. #KimJongun #winning #ArtOfTheDealapidation #TrumpKimSummit' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145249503072493569)

'And they're back' (20190630 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1145252286001643522)

Seoul Village 2019
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Chirps vs Tweets

'Chirps vs tweets - Inter Korean Summit' (20180428 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/990027815734013952)

What a week... a long expected reunion, waves of relief, hope, doubts, cautious euphoria, speeches, informal chats, laughs, tweets, and actual bird chirps.

I'm of course referring to the 2018 Asan Plenum, kicked off by a surreal Trumpian gospel according to Edwin J. Fuller, and wrapped up by a stimulating manel on North Korea. As the theme 'Illiberal International Order' suggests, it's a tad early to wear rose-colored glasses, and a 'red nose' still remains possible (even if Victor CHA joked that he'd 'never heard of it'). When Paul Wolfowitz passes for a dove heralding liberal democracies, you want to be cautious. Once more, kudos to HAHM Chaibong and the Asan Institute, it was great to see familiar and new faces speaking their minds out at such a defining moment.

And what moment. Not that handshake, not that bear hug, not even that Clinton-Yeltsin-ish burst of laughter after a few drinks (see below). But the moment when a North Korean leader left his mob to walk alone across the demarcation line. If we'd been there before, we'd never seen that.

So whom to credit most for this breakthrough? Donald TRUMP certainly served as a catalyst, and XI Jinping as an enabler, but nothing could have happened without MOON Jae-in, and the man who's seen it all, SEO Hoon.

Can we trust DPRK when they say they will give up nukes? Not really - exhibit A Inter Korean Summit I, exhibit B Inter Korean Summit II.

Can DPRK trust us? Not really - exhibit A Gaddafi, exhibit B Iran Deal.

Anyway, as someone uses to say: 'let's see what happens'.
 

ICYMI, Asan Plenum Day 1 in tweets: in tweets
#AsanPlenum 2018 Day 1 

ICYMI - - the DMZ strut, KIM Yo-jong's choregraphy, RI Sol-ju's dash, and that other Panmunjom Declaration carved on the trunk of the tree planted by both leaders: 'J hearts J'
When Jong-un met Jae-in

CVID?

Complete.
Verifiable.
Irreversible. #Denuclearization.#MissionAccomplished.

(inspectors were vetted by the Trump campaign)#AsanPlenum pic.twitter.com/mLrt6vAULN

— Seoul Village (@theseoulvillage) April 25, 2018

- 'Complete...'
- 'Verifiable...'
- 'Irreversible...'
- 'Detoxification!'
- 'Sorry, I can't give that one up'
#cvid #InterKoreanSummit (20180428 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/990167682904350720)*

Seoul Village 2018
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* Michael wondered what was so funny about that $ 100 bill, and the answer is of course that it was old counterfeit money from North Korea, the $ 300 bill with Kim Jong-un's face, and Uncle Jang at the Treasury (twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/990165973658255360) 

DMZ picnic

Early May, fresh green everywhere, a soft and gentle breeze... No mosquitoes, no bugs, just a delicate snow of white petals cast by the large tree protecting us from the bright sun. And a korani: this panicked water deer took off right in front of us on our way to a peaceful picnic.

Peaceful? Like distant thunder from a dry summer storm, every twenty minutes or so, a cannon shot reminds us that we're in a restricted area. Same for those small triangular signs, which tell us the spot used to be a landmine. When the area is not cleared, a chaplet of red flags blocks the passage. The big red flags issue yet another warning: drills are under way here, and we're using live ammos. The large red signs with a number on them mark the line beyond which nothing can fly, no bullet can be shot.

Because the DMZ is like an onion, it has layers. Like these thick concrete walls running across strategic valleys to slow down North Korean tanks. South Korean tanks? We saw plenty of those as we toured the zone, along with packs of soldiers exercising, countless training ranges (even a real size JSA mock-up).

No wonder our korani felt a triffle nervous when it saw a group of humans. But we're not soldiers, nor even poachers. Just civilians attending a seminar with the DMZ Culture Forum*. More interested in how to promote AND preserve the DMZ's cultural assets - I'm stressing the "AND" because in Korea, promotion has a knack for being incompatible with preservation.

The DMZ's military heritage is already been taken care of. And technically, the war is not even over. Heck, officially, the armistice itself has not been ratified by South Korea (BTW the signature didn't happen in Panmunjom but in Kaesong).

The topic of the day was nature. And we experienced first hand what might be lost once this curtain is torn down. A Korea that vanished almost everywhere else. Charming valleys, pristine landscapes, no "apateu" blocks, no concrete messes ruining every single hilltop. Time suspended. A bballi-bballi-free Korea.

Of course, everything is at the same time as artificial as this owl guarding a peach orchard. Or as the only village of farmers residing there, a surreal Architectural Digest that tells a lot about the brighter side of living in an overprotected area.

Overprotected for whom? Ever the pleasant and pleasing guy, CHUN Doo-hwan arranged decades ago a scheme to help scores of Seoul friends snatch huge parcels of land for almost nothing: after the war, impossible to tell for sure who owned which land, and the man in charge stated that if three witnesses concurred in their accounts, cases could be settled...

Unless a moratorium is implemented before sounder policies are crafted, you probably can kiss those pristine landscapes a sad goodbye.

Seoul Village 2012

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*DMZ Culture Forum (DMZ문화포럼 - dmzculture.org)