{"source_url": "https://news.yahoo.com", "url": "https://news.yahoo.com/kim-jong-uns-latest-threats-192348840.html", "title": "What Kim Jong Un's Latest Threats Say About His Trump Strategy", "top_image": "https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EXz6gaoioE_9wLAXuv_Ndw--~B/aD0yNzk0O3c9NDAwMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a", "meta_img": "https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EXz6gaoioE_9wLAXuv_Ndw--~B/aD0yNzk0O3c9NDAwMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a", "images": ["https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/IxIaJiRBB4OpnLu7_vmtHg--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a", "https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/578AC1.7v_wYQa9iELRpaQ--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODQ7aD04NA--/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-10/f51493b0-e61c-11e9-b7d9-bf30c4db70dc", "https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EXz6gaoioE_9wLAXuv_Ndw--~B/aD0yNzk0O3c9NDAwMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a"], "movies": [], "text": "President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stand on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea on June 30, 2019. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)\n\nSEOUL, South Korea \u2014 North Korea\u2019s leader, Kim Jong Un, has long threatened to \u201cfind a new way\u201d if the United States persists with sanctions. And when North Korea announced his \u201crevolutionary\u201d new way Wednesday, the strategy revealed both a defiance and a deep caution in confronting President Donald Trump.\n\nKim vowed, in a lengthy policy statement, to expand his country\u2019s nuclear force, making vague threats to show off a \u201cnew strategic weapon\u201d in the near future\u200b and \u201cshift to a shocking actual action.\u201d He warned that North Korea would not be bound by a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests.\n\nBut he also moderated those threats by leaving out the specifics. Kim did not explicitly say that he was formally lifting the test moratorium or that he was terminating diplomacy. Instead, he said his efforts to expand his nuclear weapons capabilities could be adjusted \u201cdepending on the U.S. future attitude.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s a wait-and-see approach that leaves room for more negotiations.\n\nAnalysts say that Kim is making a calculation against the backdrop of the political uncertainty in the United States, where Trump faces both a Senate impeachment trial and an election. The North Korean leader, they said, does not necessarily want to rush to strike a deal that could be overturned if Trump does not win a second term.\n\n\u201cKim Jong Un continues to hedge his bets,\u201d said Jean H. Lee, a North Korea expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. \u201cI think we\u2019ll see Kim continue to find ways to provoke Washington as a way to gain the upper hand in future nuclear negotiations without directly challenging President Trump.\u200b\u201d\n\nAs he waits, Kim can continue to play the role of tough guy, increasing the stakes in his nuclear brinkmanship. North Korea can expand its nuclear arsenal, produce more bomb fuel, build more nuclear warheads and improve its missile capabilities.\n\nLess predictable is whether or when Kim might deliver an infuriating message to Trump by testing a nuclear weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile.\n\nSuch a test could precipitate another \u201cfire and fury\u201d response from Trump. When Kim last conducted such tests, in 2017, Trump threatened to \u201ctotally destroy North Korea,\u201d inciting fears of possible war.\n\nTensions eased after North Korea declared a test moratorium in April 2018. And after Trump met with Kim in Singapore later that year, the president said the two \u201cfell in love.\u201d\n\nThat moratorium remains the best outcome Trump can cite from his on-and-off diplomacy with Kim \u2014 one that the North Korean leader may be wary of yanking away too soon.\n\nBy treading carefully, Pyongyang also avoids more economic pain. Launching a long-range missile would set off another round of United Nations sanctions, and such tests could also provoke China and Russia at a time when Kim strongly needs their help to blunt the pain of current internationals measures.\n\nThose sanctions required China, Russia and other countries to send North Korean workers home by late last month, depriving Kim\u2019s government of a key source of hard currency. North Korea also increasingly depends on Chinese tourists as an alternative source of income, and Kim has recently built a number of tourist zones to attract them.\n\nIn his policy report this week, Kim acknowledged that his country\u2019s efforts at economic reform faced \u201cgrave problems\u201d and were \u201cnot making visible progress,\u201d according to the state news media. He also reported \u201cevil practices and stagnation\u201d in key industries and criticized his economic officials for \u201cmerely shouting the slogan of self-reliance\u201d while lacking leadership and \u201cresponsibility\u201d to revamp the economy.\n\nKim also indicated that he was preparing for a \u201cprotracted\u201d standoff with Washington, exhorting North Koreans to accept it as \u201ca fait accompli that we have to live under the sanctions.\u201d After 18 months of faltering diplomacy, he said he was convinced that his country should stick to \u201cself-reliance\u201d rather than embracing the \u201cbrilliant transformation\u201d of its economy that Trump promised if Pyongyang abandoned its nuclear weapons.\n\nKim also called on his people \u201cnever to barter the security and dignity\u201d that the North\u2019s nuclear deterrent provided, \u201ceven though we tighten our belts.\u201d", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": [], "authors": ["Choe Sang-Hun"], "publish_date": "Wed Jan  1 19:23:48 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has long threatened to \"find a new way\" if the United States persists with sanctions. And when North Korea announced his \"revolutionary\" new way Wednesday, the strategy revealed both a defiance and a deep caution in confronting", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://s.yimg.com/os/mit/media/p/common/images/favicon_new-7483e38.svg", "meta_data": {"oath": {"guce": {"consent-host": "guce.yahoo.com"}}, "msapplication-TileColor": "#6e329d", "msapplication-TileImage": "https://s.yimg.com/rz/p/yahoo_frontpage_en-US_s_f_w_bestfit_frontpage.png", "msvalidate.01": "A9862C0E6E1BE95BCE0BF3D0298FD58B", "referrer": "unsafe-url", "theme-color": "#400090", "twitter": {"dnt": "on", "site": "@YahooNews", "card": "summary_large_image", "description": "SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has long threatened to \"find a new way\" if the United States persists with sanctions. And when North Korea announced his \"revolutionary\" new way Wednesday, the strategy revealed both a defiance and a deep caution in confronting", "image": {"identifier": "https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EXz6gaoioE_9wLAXuv_Ndw--~B/aD0yNzk0O3c9NDAwMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a", "src": "https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EXz6gaoioE_9wLAXuv_Ndw--~B/aD0yNzk0O3c9NDAwMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a"}, "title": "What Kim Jong Un's Latest Threats Say About His Trump Strategy"}, "application-name": "Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines", "news_keywords": "Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, South Korea, United States, nuclear weapons, nuclear force", "googlebot": "noindex", "bingbot": "noindex", "robots": "noindex", "apple-itunes-app": "app-id=304158842,app-argument=yahoo://article/view?uuid=a5efde94-4ebc-3494-b139-64f671f81390&src=web", "description": "SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has long threatened to \"find a new way\" if the United States persists with sanctions. And when North Korea announced his \"revolutionary\" new way Wednesday, the strategy revealed both a defiance and a deep caution in confronting", "og": {"type": "article", "image": "https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EXz6gaoioE_9wLAXuv_Ndw--~B/aD0yNzk0O3c9NDAwMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_new_york_times_articles_158/413afceead4e1eacfba2389bab0fa62a", "description": "SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has long threatened to \"find a new way\" if the United States persists with sanctions. 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