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If all the world had seen of Kim Jong Un until now was the smiling, tactile, affectionate young man who strolled nonchalantly through the wooded glades of the demilitarized zone on Friday, it could be forgiven for thinking a brutal tyrant had been deeply misunderstood.
Friday's historic encounter between North and South Korea gave a world leader who has hitherto shunned the foreign media more camera time than ever before. Every mannerism, every lift of an eyebrow was studied and speculated upon.
For most of the day, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in were followed around by television cameras and photographers as they picked their way through a series of intricately choreographed scenes in Panmunjom, the "peace village" in the DMZ that was the venue for their talks.
There was the moment when Kim stepped into the South, across the demarcation line that separates the two Koreas (and Moon briefly stepped over into the North). Then they held almost two hours of talks in the morning, planted a symbolic tree, and strolled alone in a wooded area of the DMZ where they spoke without officials for 30 minutes.
They embraced, held hands, and traded pleasantries. Kim even thanked the media for coming.
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