When it comes to tea time in South Korea, nothing is too good for the U.S. leader and his wife.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump puts on a scarf to a South Korean girl at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korea's first lady made special refreshments for President Donald Trump and wife Melania to enjoy during their visit on Tuesday: dried persimmons stuffed with walnuts and coated with chocolate.
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When it comes to tea time in South Korea, nothing is too good for the U.S. leader and his wife.
South Korea's first lady made special refreshments for President Donald Trump and wife Melania to enjoy during their visit on Tuesday: dried persimmons stuffed with walnuts and coated with chocolate.
A dried persimmon, called "ggotgam" in Korean, is a traditional local delicacy and is still used as a popular gift item in modern South Korea. But the addition of walnuts and chocolate makes it a rarity that most South Koreans have likely never tasted.
First lady Kim Jung-sook, known to be a good cook, personally picked persimmons from trees raised at Seoul's mountainside presidential Blue House and dried them for several weeks under the compound's eaves. She later put walnuts into the persimmons before coating them with chocolate with the help of a food specialist, according to South Korea's presidential office.
Kim, the wife of President Moon Jae-in, put in "extreme care" for the food to show "the highest level of courtesy" toward the Trumps and made them just hours before they were served during a tea break to maintain their freshness, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Served with the persimmons were cups of black tea blending hydrangeas grown on a mountain in South Korea's eastern alpine ski town of Pyeongchang, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics, with Asian and Western herbs. The tea is dubbed "serene morning of Pyeongchang," according to the presidential office.
Before the tea break, while their husbands held summit talks, the first ladies strolled around a garden at the Blue House, with Kim telling Melania Trump about Korean wild flowers. The two women also met dozens of children who were invited to the Blue House and placed on their necks scarves in red, white and blue, the colors of the South Korean and U.S. flags.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump and her South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-sook walk to meet their countries' children at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A dried persimmon, called "ggotgam" in Korean, is a traditional local delicacy and is still used as a popular gift item in modern South Korea. But the addition of walnuts and chocolate makes it a rarity that most South Koreans have likely never tasted.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump, second from left, and her South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-sook, second from right, stand at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)
First lady Kim Jung-sook, known to be a good cook, personally picked persimmons from trees raised at Seoul's mountainside presidential Blue House and dried them for several weeks under the compound's eaves. She later put walnuts into the persimmons before coating them with chocolate with the help of a food specialist, according to South Korea's presidential office.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump watches a present with her South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-sook, center right, after receiving it from their countries' children at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Kim, the wife of President Moon Jae-in, put in "extreme care" for the food to show "the highest level of courtesy" toward the Trumps and made them just hours before they were served during a tea break to maintain their freshness, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump talks with South Korean middle school students during "Girls Play 2!" Initiative, an Olympic public diplomacy outreach campaign, at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool)
Served with the persimmons were cups of black tea blending hydrangeas grown on a mountain in South Korea's eastern alpine ski town of Pyeongchang, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics, with Asian and Western herbs. The tea is dubbed "serene morning of Pyeongchang," according to the presidential office.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump poses for a photo with South Korean and U.S. children at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Before the tea break, while their husbands held summit talks, the first ladies strolled around a garden at the Blue House, with Kim telling Melania Trump about Korean wild flowers. The two women also met dozens of children who were invited to the Blue House and placed on their necks scarves in red, white and blue, the colors of the South Korean and U.S. flags.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump, second from left, walks with her South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-sook at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)
Known to Moon's supporters as "Joyful Jung-sook," the 62-year-old Kim, a vocal music major in college, often sang songs in support of her husband at public events before Moon, a 64-year-old former human rights lawyer, won May's presidential election.
They went to the same Seoul university, and Kim has said that she met Moon on a blind date arranged by a friend who said Moon resembled French actor Alain Delon. In his memoir, Moon said he had told Kim that he was probably destined to enter Kyung Hee University only to meet his future wife, who treated him when he was struck by pepper fog during a pro-democracy rally in the 1970s.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A $12 billion passenger bullet train linking Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area was dubbed the first true high-speed rail line in the nation on Monday, with the private company building it predicting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg before taking a stage with union representatives and company officials at the future site of a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip. “It’s really happening this time."
Buttigieg cited Biden administration support for the project that he said will bring thousands of union jobs, boost local economies and cut traffic and air pollution.
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 218 miles (351 kilometers) of new track almost all in the median of Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California. It would link there with a commuter rail connection to downtown Los Angeles. A station also is planned in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.
Company officials say the goal is to have trains exceeding speeds of 186 mph (300 kph) — comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains — operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I believe we’ll look back at today and say, ’This was the birth of an industry of high-speed rail,'” Brightline Holdings founder Wes Edens said Monday.
The company aims to link U.S. cities that are too near each other for air travel to make sense and too far for people to drive.
Las Vegas has no Amtrak service. The idea of a bullet train to Los Angeles dates back decades under various names including DesertXpress. Brightline West acquired the project in 2019, and company and public officials say it has all required right-of-way and environmental approvals, along with labor agreements.
Brightline received Biden administration backing including a $3 billion grant from federal infrastructure funds and recent approval to sell another $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds. The company won federal authorization in 2020 to sell $1 billion in similar bonds.
Brightline West says electric-powered trains will cut the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to a little more than two hours. It projects 11 million one-way passengers per year, with fares that Edens said will be comparable to airline ticket costs. The trains will offer rest rooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales and the option to check luggage.
Officials hope the train line will relieve congestion on I-15, where drivers often sit in miles of crawling traffic while returning home to Southern California from a Las Vegas weekend. An average of more than 44,000 automobiles per day crossed the California-Nevada state line on I-15 in 2023, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings' Miami-line debuted in 2018 and expanded service to Orlando International Airport last September with trains reaching speeds up to 125 mph (200 kph). It offers 16 round-trips per day with one-way tickets for the 235-mile (378-kilometer) distance costing about $80.
Other fast trains in the U.S. include Amtrak’s Acela, which can top 150 mph (241 kph) between Boston and Washington, D.C. But fast train connections for other U.S. cities have been floated, including Dallas to Houston; Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago to St. Louis; and Seattle to Portland, Oregon. Most have faced delays.
In California, a proposed 500-mile (805-kilometer) rail line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco was approved by voters in 2008, but has been beset by rising costs and routing disputes. A 2022 business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority projected the cost had more than tripled to $105 billion.
The Las Vegas strip is shown behind the groundbreaking sight of a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
CORRECTS TO SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Kids play in confetti at the groundbreaking ceremony for a high-speed railway on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil) (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
A plane takes off behind a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., left, and Sen. Jacky Rosend, D-Nev., right, speak at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo leaves the stage at a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, center, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, right, drive rail spikes into a symbolic rail, on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, shows the site of a proposed station for a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, background, at the end of the Dale Evans Parkway exit from Interstate 15, on the far outskirts of the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, Calif. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
FILE - This photo Jan. 25, 2012, photo shows the site of a proposed station for a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, foreground, with Interstate 15 in the background, on the far outskirts of Victorville, Calif., the Mojave Desert city on the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
This Jan. 25, 2012, photo shows the site of a proposed station for the high-speed rail line to Las Vegas at the end of the Dale Evans Parkway exit from Interstate 15, on the far outskirts of the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, Calif. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
FILE - A Brightline train is shown at a station in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 11, 2018. A fast-tracked plan to build a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area is set to mark the start of construction. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
