Steak and corn diplomacy

So no banquet for General Kim Yong-chol in this New York apartment where the summit-saving dinner was held between the North Korean former spy chief and the US former spy chief and now Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Steak and corn were on the menu. At least it wasn't the statutory burger and fries, although I suspect General Kim had been longing for a McDonald's. He looks like a Big Mac man to me. So does Pompeo actually. When you have probably the second most powerful North Korean in the same room for dinner, do you ask him how he would like his steak: bloody, rare, medium or well-done? General Kim will have done his homework, and even if he has his steaks well cooked in Pyongyang he wouldn't have wanted to seem out of gastronomic fashion, so I expect he played safe and asked for medium rare. Pompeo would then have asked for the same, for diplomacy's sake if nothing else. Corn is corn, so there isn't much to quibble about there. The key thing is, whether the food was acceptable or not to the stoney-faced North Korean ex-spy chief, how did the chatting go? There are ocasions when being the US Secretary of State must be great fun. There you are, with all that CIA knowledge in your head and you're facing a man who will go back to his boss in Pyongyang with one of two simple messages. No 1: "Chairman Kim, it's thumbs up for the summit." Or No 2: "Chairman Kim, it's all off, the Americans cannot be trusted." That's a heavy burden for Pompeo. He has to get the tone right, the reassurances copper-bottomed but at the same time he needs a pledge about North Korea's nukes. But I doubt General Kim will give too much away. No real detail. General Kim, only used to spying on Americans, not actually talking to them, will be assessing the big man in front of him. They met in Pyongyang, so they do know each other. But he will be asking, can Pompeo be trusted? And, therefore, can Donald Trump be trusted? Well, of course, exactly the same questions will be going through Pompeo's mind. Can his dinner companion be trusted and will Chairman Kim listen to him when he returns to Pyongyang? After two days of talks I reckon each man will come to an historically important conclusion. Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol will sort of quite like each other - not instant friendship and undying affection but respect, curiosity, fascination and a degree of comprehension. It just might work but Pompeo is the leg man in this tricky negotiating. The ultimate test will be when Trump and Chairman Kim meet in Singapore - if they do meet. From the moment they shake hands, it will be about personal chemistry, like when Margaret Thatcher first met Mikhail Gorbachev and announced she could do business with him. Perhaps General Kim will get his American burger at lunch today and after a swift tour of the great New York city will fly back to Pyongyang with a glowing report of peace in our time. It's very unlikely but not impossible. Impressions and chemistry can play a big role at historic moments. And a good burger!