The Roh n' Kim show part III: Enter the Dear Leader

High Noon in Pyongyang and Kim Jong Il has appeared!

Looking terrible.

This was Grade-A bizarre. I mean, even by Korean peninsula standards, this was difficult to parse. Kim looked, for want of a better phrase, "out of it" - suggesting perhaps that his policy towards the re-unification of Korea was more "moonshine" than "sunshine".

Walking a little awkwardly and with his left shoulder slightly hunched, Kim showed none of the vim or bonhomie he displayed at the last summit seven years ago. There were no joking asides spilling from his lips and none of that effortless - almost jolly - mastery of the situation the old tyrant exuded back in 2000 when he met Kim Dae Jung. He exhibited no particular friendliness to his visitor: not only did Kim's face never crack a real smile, it hardly cracked any expression at all.

Beyond a stiff, dispassionate handshake with Roh, Kim appeared completely disengaged from the proceedings. His left arm seemed to hang limply at his flank as he walked and, as he proceeded side-by-side with Roh past the welcoming committee, barely a word passed between them. Roh was waving to his audience of roaring North Korean "well-wishers", but Kim - a supposed master of working a crowd - barely acknowledged his people. At the risk of plunging further into the crazy depths of Kremlinology, I noticed that when Kim applauded something, only his right hand actually seemed to do the clapping.

The commentary I was listening to - a direct translation of the South Korean broadcast - had some gems in it. I particularly liked the line "Well, we can't see the two leaders right now, but I can only assume that Chairman Kim is greeting President Roh with warmth and passion," followed, naturally, by a shot of Roh grinning goofily and Kim staring sourly into the middle distance. In what one government flack told me was a "considerable" departure from the pattern of the 2000 summit, Kim and Roh travelled away from the event in separate cars. Last time, the two Kims spent the same hour-long journey chatting together in the back of Kim's limo.

Great medical minds, I'm sure, will be draughted in by the South Korean commentators and other media to assess the Dear Leader's health based on this brief appearance. The paunch was still there, for example, but it was clear he had lost weight. Above all, even as a non-medical observer, it struck me that these ten minutes of exposure are going to ignite speculation over Kim's succession as never before.

But in spite of it all,  this was the moment that Seoul must have been praying for. It was only a few stolen minutes in front of a crowd of jiggling, cheering stooges and a goose-stepping honour guard, but as the opening shot of a summit that is all about appearances, President Roh badly needed this Kim-endorsed jamboree.

By Kim's merely turning up, the summit (as Seoul will doubtless spin this mid-day encounter later today) has been stamped with the Dear Leader's seal of legitimacy. Actual achievements at the negotiating table may be slight, but it no longer matters. By coming out for a red-carpet meeting with Roh on his arrival in Pyongyang, Kim has effectively recognised that the event is happening at all. It's a small victory for Roh, but an important one.

Comments

[Aragoto]

Brilliantly, Fuji TV news has just mistakenly run footage of the Roh/Kim meeting behind their commentator's waffling about the L&G investment scandal, with "A Dream Investment" as the caption. For a second I wondered if they intended the juxtaposition.

[John Lewis]

I'm no medical expert but it sounds as though the Dear Leader may have suffered a stroke: that would explain the limp left arm and the expressionless face.