Duterte: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is the man of the hour

April 29, 2018

DAVAO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday the reclusive North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un stole the world stage and made him “the hero of everybody” when he met on Friday his South Korean counterpart in the historic summit of rival Korean leaders.

“He has just became my idol,” Duterte said, when asked to comment on the summit, only the third meeting of the two Korean leaders since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Duterte arrived early Sunday from Singapore where he attended the 32nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

Duterte said “for all time, he (Kim) was pictured as the bad boy of the community, but with one master stroke, he is now the hero of everybody”.

“He appears to be amiable, jolly good fellow, and very accommodating. I hope he remains to be that way,” he added.

Duterte reiterated his previous comment that the rare summit should now convince Kim that “nobody is really after him, (it’s just) a matter of historical divide (it) has created them”.

“So, to me, the man of the hour would be be Kim Jong-Un,” he said.

“Someday I get to meet him, I would congratulate him. I would tell him, I admire you, you really got the timing,” Duterte said. “Heroism is sometimes, you have the chance, or purposedly timed.” DMS