Up close with Kim Jong Un's men at the Trump-Kim summit

Aggressive, overly excited and with scant respect for rules, North Korea's security agents and official media crew at the summit got on everyone's nerves, including The Sunday Times' Deputy Foreign Editor Tan Dawn Wei.

A North Korean cameraman outside The St Regis Singapore hotel, where leader Kim Jong Un stayed. The country's camera crew had earned themselves a reputation for photobombing at the inter-Korea summit in April. A North Korean security agent guarding t
A North Korean security agent guarding the media pen just before the signing of the joint statement in a room at restaurant Cassia in Capella Singapore. The North Korean agents did not bother to rein in their cameramen and photographers, who did not stay within the media pen. PHOTO: TAN DAWN WEI
A North Korean cameraman outside The St Regis Singapore hotel, where leader Kim Jong Un stayed. The country's camera crew had earned themselves a reputation for photobombing at the inter-Korea summit in April. A North Korean security agent guarding t
A North Korean cameraman outside The St Regis Singapore hotel, where leader Kim Jong Un stayed. The country's camera crew had earned themselves a reputation for photobombing at the inter-Korea summit in April. PHOTO: REUTERS
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He was standing expressionless, in his baggy black suit and flat-top, watching us as we put our bags and equipment through the scanner at the Capella Singapore hotel.

I think he was watching us; I can't be sure because he was wearing sunglasses, even though it was 5am and we were inside the hotel's carpark.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on June 17, 2018, with the headline Up close with Kim Jong Un's men at the Trump-Kim summit. Subscribe