Trump's press secretary Stephanie Grisham 'bruised' amid scuffle with North Korean security guards during meeting with Kim
The newly appointed White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham was roughed up by North Korean security forces on Sunday during President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's meeting, according to reports. The incident occurred as Trump made a historic move to step into the Korean territory, becoming the first United States president to do so.
Grisham possibly suffered bruises when a scuffle broke out between the North Korean security guards and members of American media attempting to get closer to capture the handshake between the two leaders at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), according to the Associated Press.
The jostling became intense after reporters attempted to enter a room inside the Freedom House on the southern side of Panmunjom where Trump and the North Korean dictator were meeting after their initial greeting at the border.
The guards reportedly became physical as they tried to prevent the media pool accompanying Trump from entering the room, this is when the Security Service intervened.
Grisham, who was initially the spokesperson for First Lady Melania Trump, recently assumed the top communications position in the White House after former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stepped down.
Trump, meanwhile, during the historic moment said that he was "proud" to step over the demarcation line between South Korea and North Korea, as Kim said that he was surprised by the US President's last-minute invitation to meet at the Korean Demilitarized Zone on Sunday, adding that he hopes the meeting "can be the foundation for better things in the future.”
What was intended to be an impromptu exchange of pleasantries turned into a 50-minute meeting, another historic first in the year-long rapprochement between the two technically warring nations. It marked a return to face-to-face contact between the leaders after talks broke down during a summit in Vietnam in February. Significant doubts remain, though, about the future of the negotiations and the North's willingness to give up its stockpile of nuclear weapons.
The men strode toward one another from opposite sides of the Joint Security Area and shook hands over the raised patch of concrete at the Military Demarcation Line as cameras clicked and photographers jostled to capture the scene.
With AP inputs