In August, US President Donald Trump revived a charm offensive aimed at Pyongyang by drastically scaling back joint US military exercises with South Korea and heaping praise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.The US president said the North Korean dictator "has always treated me with great respect."
North Korea's response to Trump's overtures has been markedly less enthusiastic, ranging from firing a barrage of missiles to publicly denying Trump's claims that Kim has responded "very positively" to a request for talks.
This week, as the US and South Korea, along with Japan, kicked off a five-day military drill, there was no mention of any pullback from Washington, nor any sign of diplomatic progress with Pyongyang.
Instead, Kim on Monday commissioned a naval destroyer, while again emphasizing North Korea must establish a "powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent" and strengthen "maritime defense." Kim also said North Korea would soon unveil a "significant" naval advancement.Why a new Russia-North Korea road bridge worries UkraineTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
No urgency for deal with US
