Sign of a real or calculated impatience, a rhetoric tinged with aggression swells between North Korea and the United States in the run-up to December 31, deadline set unilaterally by Pyongyang for a resumption of negotiations on its denuclearization in exchange the lifting of economic sanctions.
The renewed tension prompted the United States to call for a meeting on Wednesday, December 11, of the UN Security Council to discuss "Latest developments in the Korean peninsula". Washington seems to feel that a limit has been reached. Until now, the United States had chosen not to add to it in response to North Korean "provocations".
Since the failure of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and Northern leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam in February, and the announcement in April by Kim that he could borrow "New way", at the end of December 31, in the event of a failure of diplomacy, short-range missile fire is linked and Pyongyang's speech hardens.
" Nothing to lose "
The Americans, however, avoided making any extra, including refraining from associating themselves with the convictions, the latest on December 4, by European members of the North Korean Fire Council. They also withdrew their support for an initiative of European countries to hold a meeting on Tuesday, December 10 at the Security Council on the human rights situation in North Korea. This one could not stand.
But Monday, December 9, judging Donald Trump "Very anxious to know what we think", Ri Su-yong, a senior official of the ruling North Korea Labor Party and a supervisor of the party's foreign policy decisions, said Kim Jong-un had not yet made his decision. "Final judgment" on the future of negotiations with the United States. Mr. Ri also warned Mr. Trump that he should "Give up abusive language that could offend more" the manager.
On the same day, Kim Yong-chol, former head of the nuclear negotiations, called the US president "Old man careless and capricious". "We have nothing left to lose," launched Mr. Kim, known for being a hawk and a highly listened voice of the army.
The day before, Donald Trump had said on Twitter that Kim Jong-un had "Too much to lose, everything, in fact, if he acts hostile". He also called on the North Korean leader not to "To cancel his special relationship with the President of the United States or to interfere with the November American presidential election" by resuming hostile activities.
