Donald Trump approached from the right, striding down the long portico at the colonial-era Singapore resort. Kim Jong Un, dressed in his familiar Mao suit, emerged from the left. They met in the middle, on a red carpet, dozens of cameras recording their every move, as the world watched.
And counted.
Thirteen seconds. That's how long the American and North Korean leaders shook hands at the start of their summit yesterday. The length of the contact, their facial expressions and body language, the stunning backdrop of interlocked national flags - all of it was instantly analysed, criticised and marvelled at in tweets and commentary in South Korea, the United States and beyond.
South Koreans applauded in a train station as they watched; the South Korean president grinned broadly; one official compared the summit, favourably, to the birth of his daughter. On the flipside, critics said the welcome Trump was giving Kim in Singapore would legitimise one of the world's worst human rights offenders.
It was a single, quintessentially human movement - a greeting, a welcome, a start of a relationship - but the reaction to the handshake was as complicated as the standoff that the two countries these men represent have been locked in for seven decades now.
