TRUMP SALUTE defended as ‘courtesy’ to North Korean 3-star general.
President’s gesture to N. Korean general seen as awkward
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday defended President Donald Trump’s decision to return a military salute to a North Korean three-star general.
“It’s a common courtesy when a military official from another government salutes, that you return that,” presidential spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters two days after Trump returned from his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korean state media outlets released a 42-minute documentary with footage from the summit of Trump reaching out to shake the hand of the minister of the People’s Armed Forces, who instead saluted during the summit in Singapore. The two then reversed gestures, with Trump saluting and the general reaching out to shake hands. The two eventually shook hands.
The awkward moment raised some eyebrows because the U.S. and North Korea technically are still at war.
“I have never seen an American president salute an officer of another military, let alone a military that acts as a brutal enforcer of human slavery and awful prison camps in a gulag across its nation,” said James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who served as the top NATO commander.
The documentary, which included scenes not previously broadcast, appeared on the state-run KCTV and was enthusiastically present- ed by North Korean television mainstay Ri Chun Hee. Much of the program, which followed Kim throughout his trip, was overlaid with soaring patriotic music and breathless narration.
The video was bookended by two scenes from Pyongyang: Kim’s departure on an Air China flight eliciting enthusiastic waves from military officers; and his return home to another waving crowd of officers.
The footage also showed a smiling Kim strolling through the streets of Singapore with Vivian Balakrishnan, the country’s minister for foreign affairs, as cameras flashed and dozens of people raised their smartphones to take photos.
In the United States, the salute caused some Americans to examine history and search for precedents.
As commander in chief, presidents have long been saluted by members of the U.S. military, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that President Ronald Reagan began returning the gesture. Since then, presidents often salute members of the American military.
The protocol on how American presidents should meet foreign leaders is murky. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Trump went after President Barack Obama for bowing to the Saudi king, tweeting: “Barack Obama bowed to the Saudi King in public — yet the Dems are questioning Mitt Romney’s diplomatic skills.”
Obama also took some grief in 2014 for saluting with a coffee cup in his hand as he stepped off Marine One in New York.