If Elvis meets the Confucius

The second U.S.-North Korea summit that took place in Vietnam for two days from Wednesday is already very likely to leave regrets. It is not an everyday event that lasts where U.S. President Donald Trump, who leads global order, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The latest meeting of the two leaders well depicted the symbolic aspect of the intersection between two trends – maintaining the tradition of the past on the Korean Peninsula issue and the destruction of unconventional customs.

To bring up the past performance of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the leader of the hermit nation, who moved by train in 1958, Kim Jong Un traveled some 4,500 kilometers for about 66 hours by trains and vehicles to get to Vietnam. Kim Jong Un’s behavior of clutching on to the Cold War approach of nuclear armament also shows the shadow of the tradition. President Trump, on the other hand, who is a maverick in the political world of Washington, showed the image of a customs destructor by calling Kim a friend and ignoring past nuclear negotiations and diplomatic policies.

Twitting even in Vietnam after being cornered by the Russia scandal investigation and the U.S. Congressional hearing is all too unfamiliar. Delegates of the U.S.-North Korea working-level meeting also show such feature. Unlike Kim Hyuk Chol, a proficient strategist of North Korea who has an old hand in the field, Stephen Biegun, who used to be a vice president of Ford Motor Company, is not exactly a traditional type of diplomatic negotiator.

In light of this, the Trump-Kim meeting makes this reporter imagine what would happen when Elvis meets the Confucius. That is, things that would most likely to happen when the king of Rock & Roll meets the Confucius and discuss new laws by nitpicking over doctrines. Although it cannot stand face to face, it is quite strange to see the encounter of the North Korean leader, who had been focusing on responsive measures following nuclear development, waiting for this very moment and the "master of trade," who says he can get the start on anyone he meets. Was it a "wrong encounter" to begin with?