US President Donald Trump was served traditional Korean dishes at a state dinner Tuesday, attended by some 120 other guests representing the two countries’ close relationship in the areas of diplomacy, business, culture and security.

The main dish was Korean beef ribs marinated in a special soy sauce with the Korean traditional dish Japchae, or stir-fried glass noodles, with prawns from the country’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.

“We have taken into consideration the preferences of the leaders while trying to provide a traditional Korean taste,” South Korea’s presidential official said.

Grilled sole, said to be one of President Trump’s favorites, was also on the dinner table, which was decorated with the concept of an imperial court in Korea with fabric flowers made of silk and ramie cloths.

The US leader had served President Moon Jae-in the dish at a dinner banquet when he visited the United States in June.

For dessert, a rich chocolate cake garnished with raspberry vanilla sauce and Sujeonggwa, or cinnamon punch, a traditional Korean drink, were served.

The dinner was followed by special performances at the reception hall of the Cheong Wa Dae, celebrating the US leader’s visit.

The show was a mixture of western and traditional Korean music and classical and contemporary tunes, involving the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra, Korean classic pansori singer Yoo Taepyeongyang and Korean pop singer Park Hyo-shin. Park performed his hit song “Wild Flower,” which Cheong Wa Dae said was chosen because of its lyrics.

On the guest list were fashion model Han Hye-jin, film director and novelist Lee Chang-dong, the 2007 Cannes Film Festival’s best actress Jeon Do-yeon and former “comfort woman” Lee Yong-su.

Lee, who as a teen was forced to work at a military brothel for Japanese soldiers during World War II, had testified at the US Congress in 2007 along with another victim who has since died.

Also on the guest list was Lee Seong-ju, a North Korean defector who was selected as one of this year’s Fulbright scholarship recipients.

Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook presented traditional Korean stone bowls, brass spoons and chopsticks as gifts to Trump and his wife Melania Trump after the state dinner, the presidential office said.

On the back of the spoons and chopsticks, called “notsujeo” in Korean, the phrase “we go together” was engraved, along with the visit’s date — “2017.11.7.” The inscriptions were to represent the close relations between the leaders and the strong alliance between their countries, the office said.

The stone bowls, or “dolsot” in Korean, are a symbolic gift given to those who have accomplished remarkable achievements, according to the office.

Four more women have filed police complaints against a 35-year-old suspected rapist in Buri Ram province, police said on Monday night.

The complaints followed Chisanupong Sa-onklang’s arrest at his home in Lam Plai Mat district on Saturday under a recently issued arrest warrant.

The warrant was issued over allegations that he had claimed to be a policeman to lure a Mathayom 4 schoolgirl to help a “drug sting operation” last Wednesday, bringing her to a sugarcane plantation in Muang district and allegedly attempting to rape her.

The girl said she had escaped from the scene.

The four unnamed women lodged complaints at the Muang Buri Ram and Thamenchai police stations, claiming that Chisanupong had attacked them in a similar manner by disguising himself as a police officer, luring them to an isolated place and then raping them at knifepoint.

The man was brought to re-enact the alleged assault on the schoolgirl, to which police said he had confessed. However, Chisanupong reportedly denied the other allegations, while police said they suspected there were other victims who were urged to come forward.

Chisanupong is being detained on an order from the Buri Ram Provincial Court after police filed three charges against him, including home intrusion at night, illegal detention and attempt rape.

An initial police investigation found that Chisanupong had been jailed for two years and eight months for the rape of a 20-year-old student at an apartment in Bangkok’s Soi Phetchkasem on Nov 27, 2014.

Patong City Administration Organisation on Tuesday opened the smoking areas in order to encourage the people not to smoke and drop cigarette butts on the beach, and instead support the department’s new policy.

Patong Beach is among the first 24 beaches where the smoking ban will be introduced around the country through next February, as the MCRD applies the Marine and Coastal Resources Management Act to enforce the ban. Violators of the ban will be punished with a maximum of one year in jail and/or a fine of up to Bt100,000 (S$4,100).

Patong City mayor Chalermluck Kebsab said his authority had designated the smoking areas along Patong Beach in order to reduce the amount of littered cigarette butts on the beach, prevent disruption to those who do not smoke, and encourage the public to follow the smoking ban on the beach.

All 20 smoking areas are installed with clear signage informing people that they are designated areas where they allowed to light up.

From a first-day inspection, Chalermluck said that most locals and tourists had co-operated well and smoked only in a designated area.

However, it was noticeable that there was still a sizable distance between each smoking area and there were still no signs to explain the rule about not smoking on the beach.

“In order to support the MCRD’s policy of a smoking ban on the beach, the local authorities are also working with MCRD officers to inform local businesses and tourists about this policy,” the mayor said.

“There will also be the distribution of leaflets in multiple languages informing about the smoking ban and smoking areas, at the hotels as well,” he added.

SEOUL – US President Donald Trump’s attempt to make an unannounced visit to the heavily fortified border separating North and South Korea was aborted on Wednesday after dense fog prevented his helicopter from landing, officials said.

Trump tried to travel to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) – the doorstep of the North Korean nuclear standoff – as he prepared to wrap up a 24-hour visit to ally Seoul with a major speech to lawmakers on the North Korean threat. He was then due to fly to China for the next leg of his 12-day tour of Asia.

However, Trump and his entourage had to turn back when the weather made it impossible for his helicopter to land in the border area, the White House said.

Trump was disappointed he was unable to visit the DMZ, which was planned secretly to show the strength of the US-South Korean alliance, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in was also forced to abandon his effort to accompany Trump to the site, where visits by American leaders are often seen by North Korea as provocations.

“The fact that they were still planning for it showed the strength of the alliance,” Sanders said. She later said of Trump: “He’s actually pretty frustrated.”

A visit to the DMZ, despite his aides’ earlier insistence he had no plans to go there, would have had the potential to further inflame tensions with North Korea.

Trump had dialled back some of his bellicose rhetoric towards North Korea on Tuesday and instead took more of a carrot-and-stick approach, warning Pyongyang of the US military buildup he has ordered in the area but also offering it a diplomatic opening to “make a deal”.

While Trump presented no specific solution to his toughest global security challenge, he spoke in a more conciliatory tone on Tuesday at a time of growing fears across east Asia of the prospects for military conflict.

It contrasted markedly with his earlier threats to “totally destroy” North Korea if it threatened the United States, and the personal insults he exchanged with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after the North’s most recent missile and nuclear tests.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the unpredictable Trump will build on this approach or return to the more confrontational language that has characterised his handling of the North Korean issue.

Trump’s official “talking points” for his Asia tour showed that he intends to use Wednesday’s speech to South Korean lawmakers in part to contrast South Korea’s “amazing rise” with North Korea’s “sad, backward state” and to urge resolve in the South against Pyongyang, according to a confidential document reviewed by Reuters.

He was also expected to condemn Pyongyang for its poor human rights record.

SEEKING CHINA’S HELP

Trump will then fly to Beijing where, according to senior administration officials, he will try to convince a reluctant President Xi Jinping to squeeze North Korea further with steps such as limits on oil exports, coal imports and financial transactions.

Previewing his Beijing visit, Trump told Tuesday’s news conference in Seoul that China and North Korea’s other giant neighbour, Russia, were among countries whose co-operation will be crucial in getting North Korea to rein in its nuclear and missile programmes.

“President Xi … has been very helpful. We’ll find out how helpful soon,” Trump said.

However, it is far from clear if Xi, who has just consolidated his power at a Communist Party congress, will agree to do more. China says its leverage over Pyongyang is exaggerated by the West, and points to its support in the UN Security Council for recent sanctions on North Korea as evidence that it is doing all it can to curtail the isolated North’s nuclear and missile tests.

“On this issue, China’s position and stance is already very clear and staunch,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday. “Everyone can see clearly that we don’t need anybody to tell us what we should be doing.”

With Trump appearing to crack open the door to diplomacy with North Korea – something that China has long urged – he may have a better chance of securing further promises to intensify economic pressure on North Korea, which relies on Beijing for more than 90 per cent of its trade.

North Korea’s Kim, however, has seemed willing to risk snubbing China when he deems it useful as he pursues development of a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

At the same time, Xi may be mindful that Trump has held off on trade actions against China that he loudly threatened during the 2016 presidential campaign to give Beijing more time to make progress on North Korea.

For his part, Xi will also be looking to maintain the good personal chemistry the two leaders developed when Trump hosted him at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in April

. The “bromance” is set to continue when Xi returns the favour by laying on a lavish welcome for Trump’s visit. Trump is expected to go to the Forbidden City, possibly guided by Xi, and participate in an inspection of Chinese troops, although China has released few other details.