North Korea promises US “Christmas Gift”

As a self-imposed deadline for nuclear talks approaches, North Korea last week warned that it was up to the US to determine what kind of “Christmas gift” it receives.

While raising concerns that the North may resume its nuclear weapons tests, the message also harks back to a “gift” delivered to the US on July 4, 2017 when Pyongyang first successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. That test hurdled both countries to what seemed to be the brink of nuclear war. It took a summit between the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in 2018 to change course. At that meeting, relations took a 180 degree turn. Both sides reached a series of agreements that saw tensions ease with the hope of a more peaceful future. But there was one issue both sides wouldn’t compromise on.

In response to North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests over the years, the UN and the international community imposed sanctions on North Korea. Pyongyang offered to give up part of its nuclear capabilities for the lifting of sanctions. The US refused. It wanted North Korea to completely denuclearize.

Since the Singapore summit, both sides have been unable to reach a deal over the issue of sanctions and denuclearization. That stubbornness led to the collapse of another summit in Vietnam at the start of 2019 and then during talks in Sweden several months later.

Fed up with a lack of progress, Kim in April gave the US until the end of this year to propose more agreeable terms. A North Korean official tasked with handling US affairs reiterated his country’s frustration in a news release on Tuesday. He blamed the stalled negotiations on Trump, accusing him of using them for his own political gain in the run up to next year’s presidential elections.

In light of Pyongyang’s promise of a Christmas gift and the stalled negotiations, experts are worried that North Korea could resume testing its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Such a move risks bringing the Korean peninsula, and the rest of East Asia, back to the edge of nuclear war it found itself in during 2017. The weeks ahead will determine what course the issue takes. While there’s still the possibility of an agreement, time looks almost out.

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

China promises the US a “Christmas gift”

Frustrated with stalled talks over denuclearization and the lifting of sanctions, North Korea promised the US a Christmas gift. The US’ stance at the negotiating table will determine what kind of gift it receives.

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North Korea’s name calling isn’t reserved just for Trump. In a colorfully worded rebuke, one North Korean official called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “the most stupid man ever known in history” after he - incorrectly, in the eyes of the official - described the launch of North Korea’s “super-large multiple launch rocket system” as a ballistic missile test. The official also warned Abe that he may soon see a “real ballistic missile” test.

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