North Korea's Kim visits Singapore's sky bar, gardens in surprise evening tour

[webfact]

North Korea's Kim visits Singapore's sky bar, gardens in surprise evening tour

By John Geddie and Dewey Sim

 

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un waves before departing Pyongyang to Singapore on June 10, 2018. KCNA via REUTERS

 

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went on an evening tour of Singapore on Monday, posing with city-state officials at a tropical garden before visiting an infinity pool atop a landmark waterfront hotel, to the surprise of guests.

 

Kim arrived in Singapore on Sunday for a historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and missiles in exchange for economic incentives and security guarantees.

 

The young North Korean leader is staying under heavy guard at a city centre hotel and had not appeared in public on Monday until about 9 p.m., when one of his security officials buzzing about the hotel lobby shouted "It's all ready!"

 

Kim suddenly emerged in his trademark Mao-style suit to walk out to his black limousine, accompanied by his sister, Kim Yo Jong, and aides.

 

Reuters staff around the city tracked his motorcade, which included bus loads of security personnel and aides, escorted by dozens of Singapore police officers on motorbikes.

 

His first stop was a park with futuristic, tree-shaped installations, Gardens by the Bay, which also boasts the largest glass greenhouse and tallest indoor waterfall in the world.

 

He joined Singapore's foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, who tweeted a selfie with a smiling Kim and Singapore Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, against a backdrop of flowers with the hashtag #Guesswhere.

 

Kim thanked the Singapore officials for showing him around so late at night, the North's state news agency said on Tuesday.

 

Kim then stopped at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which resembles a giant surfboard perched on three tall columns, for a look out over the bright city lights from its rooftop garden and infinity swimming pool.

 

Singapore was "clean and beautiful", Kim said on the observation deck, adding that he aimed to learn from the knowledge and experience of the southeast Asian nation, as he found it impressive, the official KCNA news agency added.

 

Surprised guests enjoying the relative cool of the tropical evening took pictures of a waving Kim with their cameraphones.

 

On the way back to his hotel, Kim walked along a promenade near the Merlion, a giant statue, and fountain, of a mythical creature, half lion, half fish - Singapore's unofficial mascot.

 

Kim's trip to Singapore is his furthest journey he has made since taking power in late 2011 upon his father's death.

 

He has made two trips to China since March to meet President Xi Jinping, and held summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April and May in the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas.

 

His excursion out of the hotel caused a big stir with guests who were told to get behind a barricade while dozens of North Korean security men and Singapore police officers and government officials blocked off the lobby.

 

"Oh my God, is Kim Jong Un coming?" shouted one guest, shortly before he appeared to set off for his evening jaunt.

 

(Reporting by John Geddie, Grace Lee, Dewey Sim, Soyoung Kim and Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-12

[ezzra]

The man is a huge spectacle wherever he goes, probably the last dictator/tyrant in this world, let's tour Singapore while the going is good he thinks, and if nothing comes out from this meeting at least i got a tour out of it....

[Darcula]

And, not wanting to be outdone, the orange utang stopped by the four floors?

[Thailand]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

The man is a huge spectacle wherever he goes, probably the last dictator/tyrant in this world, let's tour Singapore while the going is good he thinks, and if nothing comes out from this meeting at least i got a tour out of it....

Not the last.

[harada]

I wonder if footage of his little jaunt was beamed through to those in his concentration camps ?

[lannarebirth]

7 minutes ago, harada said:

I wonder if footage of his little jaunt was beamed through to those in his concentration camps ?

 

Or anywhere else in North Korea. I doubt it. Kim sure as hell doesn't want North Koreans seeing what Singapore looks like.

[Jeremy50]

1 sniper on the roof, job done. Drop his putrid corpse in the ocean. 

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Darcula said:

And, not wanting to be outdone, the orange utang stopped by the four floors?

I think it was all over very quickly - so fast that no one knew if he was coming or going.

 

[yougivemebaby]

Soon we will see Kim walking down soi cowboy doing shots of Lao khao 

[richabb1]

No Geylang tour?

[lannarebirth]

5 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Or anywhere else in North Korea. I doubt it. Kim sure as hell doesn't want North Koreans seeing what Singapore looks like.

 

Well, I stand corrected.

 

 

Quote

 

North Korean state media goes big on Singapore

 

North Korea's top newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, splashed photos of Kim Jong Un's unprecedented visit to Singapore on Wednesday, including his walking tour of the glamorous city. CNN correspondent Will Ripley, who has traveled to North Korea nearly 20 times, called the images "extraordinary."

"It's extraordinary to me because normally North Korea waits 24 hours or longer after these events, the message is vetted and edited and North Koreans find out about it after the rest of the world,"

 

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-kim-jong-un-meeting-summit/h_5f6166740c4053cb3a80f5a5e6d0c253

 

 

[sanemax]

Kim may have ideas about turning NK into something resembling Singapore ?