No "Christmas Gift" from North Korea?

 

Source: bloombergquint.com

After diplomatic negotiations with the Trump administration over the North's secret nuclear programmes broke down last year, North Korea appeared to stun the world with an unpleasant "Christmas present." 

About the fact that Pyongyang did not conduct a long-range missile test or a new nuclear detonation during the Christmas season, national security experts are concerned that the Christmas gift may transform into an "October surprise" orchestrated by the North Koreans to take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity offered by the upcoming presidential election in the United States. 

If no progress is made between the two countries by the end of the year, North Korea has set guidelines for the US to change its nuclear programme, and analysts expect a return to intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and nuclear testing.

North Korea has thrown threats at Trump in the run-up to the deadline, branding him a "dotard" and claiming that "foolish" US acts had already aided it in making a "definite decision" on the next move. 

The United States seemed to take North Korea's Christmas threat seriously, deploying four surveillance planes over the Korean Peninsula. 

President Trump had joked only a day before that the present might be "a beautiful vase rather than a missile test." 

“We'll figure out what the surprise is and deal with it successfully,” he told reporters in Palm Beach. 

After Trump walked away from a February summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over possible US sanctions relief and how much of Pyongyang's nuclear missile programme Pyongyang was able to shut down, US-North Korean negotiations have stalled. 

In June, Trump met with Kim at the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula and agreed to hold working-level negotiations. When the talks were restarted in October, they soon fell apart. Pyongyang has been cautioned by several US lawmakers against resuming research. 

“If North Korea resumes nuclear or ICBM tests, it will ruin their last best hope for a win-win deal with President Trump, and it will place us on a collision path because we will not enable them to build the military capabilities to hit America with a nuclear weapon,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) earlier this month. “So, if they head down that path, they'll torch all of the bridges they have.” 

Written By- Anjali Gupta
Edited By- Gunika Manchanda