Kim Jong-un genuinely happy while Donald Trump ‘forces smile’ as he tries to woo North Korean leader, body language expert reveals
The under-fire pair exchanged a warm handshake in Vietnam before heaping praise on each other before their 'productive' 30-minute pre-dinner chat with their advisers
IT looked like World War GLEE today when Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un greeted each other with beaming smiles at crunch talks about North Korea’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
The under-fire power pair exchanged warm handshakes in Vietnam before heaping praise on each other ahead of their "productive" pre-dinner chat with their closest advisers.
“A lot of things are going to be solved I hope,” commented the US president while calling his controversial counterpart a "great leader".
“I think it will lead to a wonderful, really a wonderful situation long-term,” he told the world's press.While a grinning Kim thanked his US counterpart for his bravery in making this week's meeting in Hanoi happen in the first place.
Here body language expert Judi James gives her expert view on the meeting and reveals whether those show-stealing smiles were the real deal or just for the camera.
"There was clearly some desire from both men to re-create their love-in from their first meeting, although the signals of friendship did look rather forced and in-congruent, especially from Trump," reveals Judi.
"The US leader appeared to be trying to blend some military-looking, powerful body poses and a serious, ‘I mean business’, grim-looking mouth clamp with some moments of parental-looking smiling and power-patting.
"While Kim’s smiles looked relatively congruent and unforced, Trump’s clamped lips with the outside edges of his mouth raised suggested some of his smiles were forced rather than spontaneous.
"This didn’t look like a case of instantly picking up where they left off although there was some appearance of warming as their poses went on.
PEACE PRIZE HOPE
The fact that Kim's over-the-top smiles look more genuine will come as no surprise to the international observers who say the rogue state's leader was onto a winner before the summit even started.
Just being recognised on a global stage by the world's most powerful man will back up his long-standing boasts that North Korea is a force to be recognised with, they say.
And although analysts fully expect Kim to accede to a further curtailment of his nuclear ambitions, the high-profile talks are unlikely to secure a full disarmament deal.
The despot could soon have something else to smile about amid unconfirmed reports he could be in line to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Suggestions the dictator might be in line for the award initially emerged after he met Trump for their first summit, in Singapore in June, but have stepped up ahead in the past week.
"After the first US-North Korean summit, the authorities began saying during propaganda lecture sessions that Kim Jong-un is a front-runner for the Nobel Peace Prize”, a North Korean government official told the media.
“Because the two US-North Korean summits are being held one after the other, the authorities began distributing ‘educational materials for the greatness of our highest leader’, including a lot of propaganda about the Nobel prize”, he said.