It seems the altercation was a little more serious than the South Korean footage showed, and which Sputnik featured (see link at the earlier update). From the New York Daily News, in a report published 10:57 AM it seems the earlier Sputnik report, which I also posted below, was closer to the truth about what happened than the footage showed, although from the Daily News, the scuffle was with NK security guards, not NK officials. And that it didn't get worse might have been due to the U.S. Secret Service entering the fray. But I think Richard Engel nailed it (see below); it was a chaotic situation, unscripted, and it came up very suddenly.
So the North Korean guards were reacting in knee-jerk fashion. But then so was Trump's new press secretary [smiling].
Here's the Daily News report, which is based on an AP report I haven't looked at yet:
It was quite a start to her new job.
Incoming White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham was left with bruises following a nasty scuffle between reporters and Kim Jong Un’s security in North Korea on Sunday.
The melee took place as members of the U.S. press pool tried to enter a room where President Trump and the North Korean strongman were meeting, according to The Associated Press.
Grisham and others were roughed up as North Korean security guards tried to keep the reporters from entering the room, located inside the Freedom House on the southern side of Panmunjom.
A source described the scene to CNN as “an all-out brawl.” The Secret Service would intervene, the AP reported. [END REPORT]UPDATE 10:25 AM ET
Aw, it wasn't much of a scuffle, from the footage South Korean TV showed. She just shoved some guy aside to get American reporters into the room. Doesn't look like anybody shoved her back or hit her. That's against the report that it was an "all-out brawl." Maybe off camera?
It was an all-out brawl according to one source. I'll bet Melania was proud of her. I sure am. (She was Melania's press secretary before Melania reluctantly gave her to a Higher Cause.) The scuffle happened in a meeting room that was being prepared at the DMZ for Trump and Kim to meet after The Handshake. North Korean and American reporters began jostling for vantage points; North Korean officials and Stephanie jumped in and it turned into a melee.
From Sputnik's account:
... White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham ... was reportedly injured in a scuffle with North Korean officials as the two countries' press pools hastened to occupy the meeting room prepared for Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
A source told the news agency CNN that Grisham got into "an all-out brawl" with some North Koreans, adding that she was a little bit bruised.
The spokeswoman was later seen directing reporters outside the building where the Kim-Trump meeting was being held.Have you seen footage of the handshake at the DMZ? The press pools were going crazy trying to get good shots of the unscripted historic occasion. For a couple moments, the situation was almost scary given that the camera crews weren't behind barriers and security people just weren't there -- or so far back from the stampeding photographers they were useless.
Kim looked a little out of it during the handshake although he looked more comfortable once he settled into a chair in the meeting room. The chaotic outdoor part of the pageant was intimidating -- of course not for Trump, who is an old hand at being a media star. But by gum, he's going to make Kim Jong-un a media star if it's the last thing he does.
And another surprise is that the closed-door meeting after the handshake between Trump and Kim, which was to supposed to last about two minutes, lasted 50 minutes; in all, they met for more than an hour. No word yet on what they discussed.
Towering above everything else is the fact that Donald J. Trump is the first American president to set foot in North Korea -- not for many moments but he did it.
See also: AFP's detail-rich Pandemonium in Panmunjom: Kim and Trump's hasty DMZ date
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