Foreign Affairs

Kim Jong Un Is Out On The Town And Taking Selfies In Singapore

Kim_Jong-Un_Photorealistic-Sketch | Circa January 2015 | By User P388388 on Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left his hotel Monday and went on a late-night tour of Singapore, during which the young despot reportedly took his first-ever selfie.

Kim left the St. Regis around 9 p.m. local time. While out on the town, he toured the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay and visited the Marina Bay Sands to explore the SkyPark. At one point, Kim stopped and took an apparent selfie with Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.

Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan takes a selfie with Kim Jong Un in Singapore’s Merlion Park. pic.twitter.com/QE2U6Q8lQl

— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) June 11, 2018

#Jalanjalan #guesswhwere? pic.twitter.com/oVOk8UuqlC

— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) June 11, 2018

Kim was accompanied by his security personnel, as well as his sister Kim Yo Jong.

In a matter of months, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has managed to radically transform his international image from that of a brutal dictator leading an isolated rogue nation to that of a friendly statesman, despite, of course, still being a violent despot with an arsenal of illegally-acquired nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, horrific prison camps, and an oppressive society.

Since late March, Kim has met Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The young dictator has also held meetings in Pyongyang with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who invited Kim to visit Russia at some future date.

In relevant photos, he can be seen laughing and smiling while hugging and shaking hands with his foreign counterparts.

Here’s Kim Jong Un at the top of Marina Bay Sands, the iconic Singapore hotel owned by Sheldon Adelson. The North Korean leader went up to to the roof as part of his night tour of the city state. pic.twitter.com/9rpgtC01K4

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) June 11, 2018

Kim’s senior officials are also increasingly traveling abroad. His right-hand man Kim Yong Chol traveled to the U.S. earlier this month and became the first North Korean official to visit the White House in nearly two decades.

Now, Kim is preparing to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at an unprecedented summit. The president has said that if things go well, Kim might receive an invitation to the White House, but Kim’s future, according to the president, depends on his willingness to denuclearize. Trump has said that the North Korean leader only has one shot.

“I feel that Kim Jong Un wants to do something great for his people,” the president stated Saturday, “And he has that opportunity, and he won’t have that opportunity again.”

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