Is the bromance between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un over? The two leaders meeting in June. Photo / AP
US President Donald Trump has warned that North Korea had "everything" to lose through hostility towards the United States, after Pyongyang reported a "very important test" at a rocket launch site.
"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 over the weekend at the Sohae space launch centre.
"He signed a strong Denuclearisation Agreement with me in Singapore," Trump continued. "He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere with the US Presidential Election in November.
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"North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearise as promised. NATO, China, Russia, Japan, and the entire world is unified on this issue!"
Earlier, a North Korean spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency that Pyongyang had carried out a successful test on Saturday, adding that it was of "great significance" to Pyongyang.
"The results of the recent important test will have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future," the spokesman added.
Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore. He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere.... https://t.co/THfOjfB2uE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2019
Over the weekend, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations said denuclearisation was now off the negotiating table with the US and lengthy talks with Washington were not needed.
Ambassador Kim Song said America's desire for "sustained and substantial dialogue" was a "timesaving trick" to benefit a "domestic political agenda".
"We do not need to have lengthy talks with the US now and the denuclearisation is already gone out of the negotiation table," he said.
The North Korean diplomat accused the Europeans – France, Germany, Britain, Belgium, Poland and Estonia – of playing "the role of pet dog of the United States in recent months."
"We regard their behaviour as nothing more than a despicable act of intentionally flattering the United States," the ambassador said.
The comments came as an end-of-year deadline for the countries to reach a denuclearisation deal inches closer. Ri Thae Song, a North Korean vice foreign minister handling US affairs, said in a statement last week that Trump was running out of time to salvage the negotiations.
"What is left to be done now is the US option and it is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get," Ri said in comments relayed by North Korean state media.
"I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un," Trump told reporters on Saturday.
"I think we both want to keep it that way. He knows I have an election coming up. I don't think he wants to interfere with that."
"He's somebody I've gotten along with very well for three years," he added.
Kim has issued a warning about taking a "new path" next year, Reuters reported, engendering fears that it could mean the country again starts testing nuclear bombs and long-range missiles.
Seoul's Defence Ministry said South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring activities at the Sohae site and other key North Korean areas.
At the White House's request, Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had a 30-minute phone call to discuss developments related to North Korea, and the two leaders committed to continuing close communication.
The Sohae launching centre in Tongchang-ri, a seaside region in western North Korea, is where the North has carried out banned satellite launches in recent years, resulting in worldwide condemnation and UN sanctions over claims that they were disguised tests of long-range missile technology.
North Korea has said its satellite launches are part of its peaceful space development program.
After his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June last year, Trump said Kim told him that North Korea was "already destroying a major missile engine testing site" in addition to committing to "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean Peninsula.
Satellite imagery later showed the North dismantling a rocket engine-testing stand and other facilities at the Sohae site. Last March, South Korea's spy agency and some US experts said that North Korea was restoring the facilities, raising doubts about whether it was committed to denuclearisation.
US-North Korea diplomacy has largely remained deadlocked since the second summit between Trump and Kim in Vietnam in February due to disputes over how much sanctions relief the North must get in return for dismantling its key nuclear complex – a limited disarmament step.
North Korea has since warned that the US must abandon hostile policies and come out with new acceptable proposals by the end of this year or it would take an unspecified new path. In recent months, North Korea has performed a slew of short-range missile and other weapons launches and hinted at lifting its moratorium on nuclear and long-range missiles.
Meanwhile, Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee, says his panel could vote on articles of impeachment against Mr Trump this week.
"It's possible," Nadler said on US TV on Sunday (local time).
He said there was "a lot to consider" in determining which charges to file against the Republican president and that the obstruction findings in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election show a pattern.
Meanwhile the Justice Department's internal watchdog will release a highly anticipated report on Monday that is expected to reject Trump's claims that the Russia investigation was illegitimate and tainted by political bias from FBI leaders, The Associated Press reports.
But it is also expected to document errors during the investigation that may animate Trump supporters.
The report, as described by people familiar with its findings, is expected to conclude there was an adequate basis for opening one of the most politically sensitive investigations in FBI history and one that Trump has denounced as a witch hunt.
It began in secret during Trump's 2016 presidential run and was ultimately taken over by Mueller
The site was used by Hezbollah to plan attacks on Israeli civilians.