The fake movie trailer Donald Trump played Kim Jong-un
The summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has not yielded major results. Photo: Getty
When US President Donald Trump sat down to make the case for peace to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, he rolled out what amounted to a fake movie trailer starring the two leaders.
Mr Trump said he had urged Mr Kim and other North Korean officials to watch a four-minute video produced ahead of Tuesday’s summit in Singapore.
President Trump said Mr Kim and other senior members of the North Korean delegation had huddled around an iPad to watch the video, which appeared to draw more from the hype of Hollywood than the careful language of diplomacy.
“I think he loved it,” Mr Trump said, referring to Mr Kim.
White House officials also arranged for the video to be played for reporters gathered for Mr Trump’s news conference.
Mr Trump and Mr Kim reached a broad agreement on Tuesday that North Korea would move towards denuclearising the Korean peninsula, while the United States committed to providing security guarantees, and suspending war games with its ally in Seoul.
Watch the fake movie trailer below:
The video Mr Trump showed the North Koreans was one of several unscripted moments in a carefully planned meeting between the two leaders.
The video, which plays out in Korean and English, shows images of Mr Trump and Mr Kim smiling.
At one point, if features a montage with babies and auto factories, suggesting what a more prosperous future for North Korea could look like if it agreed to scrap its nuclear arsenal.
To illustrate the point, ballistic missiles are shown in reverse motion, pulling back into their launch silos.
“The past doesn’t have to be the future,” a narrator says as the video showed the demilitarised zone that has separated North and South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Then later, the narrator says, “a new world can begin today,” as an animated sequence suggests what the impoverished North Korea could look like if it was as brightly lit up at night as the far more prosperous South Korea.
At times, the video appeared to address Kim directly, suggesting he could make a choice that would open North Korea to new investment and step into a starring role in a moment in history with Mr Trump.
“Featuring President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un, in a meeting to remake history, to shine in the sun. One moment, one choice,” the narrator says.
“What if?” the narrator repeats.
The credit on the video said it had been produced by Destiny Pictures, a company based in Los Angeles. A representative of Destiny Pictures could not be immediately reached for comment.