Amid growing doubts about whether President Trump will meet on June 12 with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, the Trump administration came under criticism Tuesday over commemorative coins that were created to honor the planned meeting.
The coins, issued by the White House Communications Agency, a military unit assigned to the president, feature likenesses of the two leaders, referring to Kim as “Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.’’
Some faulted the United States for honoring a dictator who runs a repressive regime.
Robert Kelly, the South Korea analyst who became known as the BBC dad after his children’s intrusion into his home office went viral, mocked the administration for fostering a “personality cult,’’ calling the coins “just gross.’’
And some noticed an apparent double chin on Kim.
The White House later issued a statement saying it “did not have any input into the design and manufacture of the coin.’’ It said such coins had been ordered since 2003 by members of the White House Communications Agency, whose military service personnel are assigned to handle presidential communications, including during trips abroad.
Trump is said to be concerned about the risks of going ahead with a meeting with Kim in Singapore on June 12, particularly after North Korea declared last week that it would never trade away its nuclear weapons capability in exchange for economic aid.
Senate minority leader Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, called on the White House on Tuesday to remove the image of Kim Jong Un from the coin.
Such coins are typically minted in advance of presidential trips abroad, and Schumer said in his tweet that issuing one to mark the planned meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore on June 12 was ‘‘certainly appropriate.’’
But, Schumer said, ‘‘Kim Jong Un’s face has no place on this coin.’’
‘‘He is a brutal dictator and something like the Peace House would be much more appropriate,’’ Schumer said, referring to a venue in the demilitarized zone near the border of South Korea and North Korea that has been used for previous peace talks.
Material from the Washington Post was used in this report.
