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It's not quite the theatrics we saw at the DMZ, but John Key's talks with the Korean Prime Minister and President are a stage show in their own right.
The awkward posed hand-shaking as the dozens of flash bulbs crack-crack like gunfire; the many professions about what good friends we all are.
While I don't doubt that is the case, Key came to Seoul for more than a catch up and a cuppa with his Korean mates.
Nevertheless, those fond feelings may indeed help progress the real agenda - giving trade talks the kickstart they need to get back to the negotiating table.
Before his meeting with President Lee Myung-Bak, the question of including agriculture in a free trade deal with our seventh largest trading partner was off the table, and negotiations were stalled.
Key returned from his 'firm' meeting with the president at the Korean equivalent to the White House - the Blue House - having made firm progress.
Agriculture is back on the table for the two countries' trade ministers to discuss within the next two months.
It's by no means a done deal - agriculture remains a major hurdle.
President Lee faces pressure domestically from producers who are afraid of what opening the market to competition from an agricultural economy like New Zealand will do.
But as Fonterra chairman, Sir Henry van der Heyden - who is also in Korea to help give the trade talks a nudge - points out, Korea has signed or is in the process of signing free trade deals with our competitors in the agricultural sector. We're not asking for special treatment, he says, just a level playing field.
New Zealand stands to make substantial gains from a free trade deal - we currently pay $195 million in tariffs on the goods we export to Korea.
In contrast Korea pays just $5 million in tariffs on the goods it sends to us - the Samsung tellies, the Hyundai cars. But that disparity makes it is, as Key puts it, a prize worth pursuing.
For the companies like Zespri that already have competitors, namely Chile, with free trade deals with Korea already in place, obtaining that prize is urgent.
Zespri pays tariffs of 45% on kiwifruit exports, Chile pays 16.5. Every year Chile's tariffs shrink by 4% and Zespri watches its ability to compete effectively in the Korean market ebb away.
New Zealand and Korea are undoubtedly friends, and John Key appears to have forged a good relationship with his counterparts in the 13th biggest economy in the world.
What is required now is for negotiators to get back to the bargaining table, and reconvene the arm wrestle over agricultural trade - and that takes time.
As Key put it - he could sign a bad deal tomorrow. But a deal without dairy, without beef, or horticulture, would be no prize at all for New Zealand producers and exporters.
Nadine is visiting Korea as part of the Korean Culture
and Information Services Bethell Fellowship
programme.
