“The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat,” said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Hours later, President Trump replied his button is “much bigger and more powerful [and that it] works.”
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” Trump told reporters when asked about Kim’s claim. He later tweeted: “[the social media] is the only way to fight a VERY dishonest and unfair ‘press’.”
Kim spoke on TV whereas Trump responded tweeting. This shows the difference of perspectives between their respective countries. Maybe the exchange of high words was exaggerated, but the two presidents were not so serious, not did the media take their statements seriously this time. Perhaps the world has come to realize that there is another level of fiery rhetoric.
Although the North Korean leader had started his speech with the point about the nuclear button, his speech was mostly about détente. He said his country was “open to dialogue” as he announced that North Korea might participate in the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Kim Jong-un said his country is keen to accelerate the production and deployment of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles but also that relations with South Korea may improve next year. Expressing his desire to resume dialogue, he announced reopening the hotline between the two countries. The press secretary for South Korea’s president, Yu Yong Chan, called it a very important step to resume the stalled dialogue with Pyongyang, believing “it signals a move toward an environment where communication between both countries will be possible at all times.”
This positive development in the North Korean crisis is a direct result of the most stringent international sanctions imposed by the United Nations. The UN Security Council unanimously approved on 22 December 2017 the latest series of the severe sanctions on North Korea in response to the recent missile tests, including the reduction of oil imports by 90%.
The North Korean nuclear button talk is perhaps a prelude to direct negotiations aimed at strengthening Pyongyang’s position amid international mediation offers to resolve the crisis.
Moscow reportedly called North Korea and the United States to negotiate in Russia, which is seen as an extension of its new role regionally and globally as filling the vacuum left by the decline of the American influence. President Putin threw a lifeline at President Trump, diffusing tensions that could have ended up in military escalation in the peninsula.
