The escalation of rhetoric between President Trump and communist dictator Kim Jong Un has come to an apparent cease-fire today after North Korean state media announced that Kim has decided to call off his tentative plans to attack Guam.
It’s the latest response to Trump’s declaration earlier in the week that the U.S. is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to respond.
Whether N. Korea is reacting to the show of force off their coast by coordinated S. Korean, Japanese and U.S. navies is unclear.
But his declaration came with the characteristic sing-song proviso that ‘if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions…[N. Korea] will make an important decision as it already declared.’
It’s the typical schoolyard bully response to a mutual threat:” I’ll leave you alone for now, but I’m warnin’ you, don’t test me. I’ll do something really bad, I promise.”
We’ll see.
Here’s more from Reuters…
North Korea’s leader has delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waits to see what the United States does next, the North’s state media said on Tuesday, as South Korea’s president said Seoul would seek to prevent war by all means.
Signs of an easing in tension on the Korean peninsula helped stock markets rally for a second day running even as the United States and South Korea prepared for more joint military drills, which infuriate the North, and experts warned it could still go ahead with its provocative plan.
In his first public appearance in about two weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the command of the North’s army on Monday, examining a plan to fire four missiles to land near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the official KCNA said in a report.
“He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared,” the report said.
The DPRK stands for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In photos released with the KCNA report, Kim was seen holding a baton and pointing at a map showing a flight path for the missiles appearing to start from North Korea’s east coast, flying over Japan towards Guam. North Korea has often threatened to attack the United States and its bases and released similar photos in the past but never followed through.
