Near but far: Trump, Kim find themselves closer than ever
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — It’s obvious to anyone who looks at a map but also, this week, especially noteworthy: The leaders of two nations that have squared off with harsh words and the threat of nuclear war are now closer to each other than New York City’s Trump Tower is to the White House.
That’s presuming North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in fact in Pyongyang, which is likely, though not as definite as President Donald Trump’s presence in Seoul, the South Korean capital. The American leader was there on Tuesday and Wednesday, meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and urging Kim to “come to the table” and “make a deal.”
The proximity of Trump and Kim this week is an interesting blip and, probably, little more. But it underscores a daily fact of life for the residents of the two Koreas’ capitals: Their seats of government, mortal enemies linked by a common heritage, spend every day virtually breathing down each other’s geographic necks.
Seoul, home to the Blue House where South Korea’s president works, is just 125 miles (200 kilometres) from Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square and the heart of the North Korean regime. New York City, by comparison, is 205 miles (330 kilometres) from Washington, D.C.