Trump warns Kim has 'everything' to lose through hostility

President Donald Trump warned Sunday that North Korea's Kim Jong Un had "everything" to lose through hostility towards the United States, after Pyongyang said it had carried out a major new weapons test.

"Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way," Trump tweeted in response to the unspecified test at the Sohae space launch center.

The announcement of Saturday's test came just hours after Trump said he would be "surprised" by any hostile action from the North, emphasizing his "very good relationship" with Kim.

Trump and Kim engaged in months of mutual insults and threats of devastation in 2017, sending tensions soaring before a diplomatic rapprochement the following year.

The pair have met three times since June 2018 but with little progress towards denuclearization. Pyongyang has set Washington a December 31 deadline to make new concessions to kickstart stalled talks.

"North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearize as promised," Trump tweeted.

"NATO, China, Russia, Japan, and the entire world is unified on this issue!"

Writing that Kim had "signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement" at their June 2018 summit in Singapore," Trump warned: "He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere with the U.S. Presidential Election in November."

Separately, interviewed on the CBS TV news program "Face the Nation," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien was asked whether North Korea was preparing to restart nuclear tests.

"I hope not. That would be a mistake on the part of North Korea," O'Brien said.

"Kim Jong Un promised to denuclearize North Korea," O'Brien said. "And we expect him to live up to the promise he made at the summit in Singapore. And we hope he'll do so."

On Saturday, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in spoke by phone with Trump and agreed to maintain dialogue with Pyongyang.

The 30-minute talk was the first conversation between Trump and the South Korean leader since they met at the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

"The two leaders shared an assessment that the current situation on the Korean peninsula is grave," said South Korean presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung, adding that Trump had requested the call.

- 'Very important test' -

A spokesman for North Korea's Academy of National Defense Science said Saturday's "very important test" would have an "important effect" on changing the "strategic position" of North Korea, in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

The statement provided no further details on the test.

A senior US administration official earlier said Washington had seen reports of a test and was "coordinating closely with allies and partners."

Trump indicated that military action was still possible when he was asked about Pyongyang on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Britain last week.

North Korea fired back that if the United States used military force, it would take "prompt corresponding actions at any level."

UN diplomats fear that the North will resume long-range nuclear or ballistic tests if progress is not made soon in talks with Washington.

Sohae, on North Korea's northwest coast, is ostensibly a facility designed for putting satellites into orbit.

But Pyongyang has carried out several rocket launches there that were condemned by the US and others as disguised long-range ballistic missile tests.

Following the Singapore summit, Trump said Kim had agreed to destroy "a major missile engine testing site," without naming the facility.

Kim then agreed to shutter the Sohae site during a summit last year with Moon in Pyongyang as part of trust-building measures.

North Korea says US denuclearization talks 'out of negotiation table'
United Nations, United States (AFP) Dec 7, 2019 - North Korea on Saturday said denuclearization talks with the United States were "out of the negotiation table," while slamming European UN Security Council members who had recently denounced its "provocative" ballistic missile launches.

The statement from North Korea's ambassador to the UN Kim Song came after Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom on Wednesday condemned North Korea's "continued testing of ballistic missiles," and called for strict enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang.

Referring to the "paranoia" of the Europeans and "the hostile policy" of the United States in recent months, Song said North Korea does "not need to have lengthy talks with the US now and the denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiation table."

Song also called the European statement "another serious provocation," saying North Korea is exercising "righteous measures of strengthening national defense capabilities."

"As these six EU member states are making much trouble to play the role of pet dog of the United States in recent months, one cannot but wonder what do they get in return for currying favor with" Washington," the statement continued.

In their statement, European powers noted that Pyongyang has carried out "13 ballistic missile launches since May," the most recent of which was on November 28.

Nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington are stalled with a looming end-of-year deadline set by North Korea for some kind of US concession.

UN diplomats fear that North Korea will resume long-range nuclear or ballistic tests if no progress is made soon.

Trump and Moon discuss maintaining talks with North: Seoul
Seoul (AFP) Dec 7, 2019 - South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed during a phone conversation to maintain dialogue with the nuclear-armed North, Seoul said Saturday, with the two allies noting the situation had become "grave".

Denuclearisation negotiations have been at a standstill since a summit in Hanoi broke up in February and pressure is rising as an end-of-year deadline to offer concessions, set by Pyongyang for Washington, approaches.

The 30-minute talk was the first conversation between the US President and the South Korean leader since they met at the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

"The two leaders shared an assessment that the current situation on the Korean peninsula is grave," said Ko Min-jung, the spokeswoman of the South's presidential office.

"They agreed momentum for dialogue to achieve prompt results from denuclearisation negotiations should be continued," she went on to say, adding that Trump had requested the call.

The discussion came after a week in which exchanges between Trump and North Korea raised the prospect of a return to a war of words, culminating in Pyongyang's threats to resume referring to the US president as a "dotard" and to take military action if the US military moves against it.

The South Korean leader was instrumental in brokering the landmark summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore last year which produced only a vaguely worded pledge about denuclearisation.

Related Links
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N.Korea warns Trump it will use 'corresponding' force if attacked
Seoul (AFP) Dec 4, 2019
North Korea on Wednesday warned that if the United States used military force against Pyongyang it would take "prompt corresponding actions at any level", in response to comments by US President Donald Trump. Denuclearisation negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been deadlocked since a summit in Hanoi broke up in February, and the renewed threats come as a deadline set by Pyongyang for fresh concessions approaches. Trump on Tuesday indicated that military action was still possible ... read more