Is North Korea’s Kim Jong-un Serious About Peace?

Kim Jong-un condemned the United States while offering an olive branch to South Korea in a New Year's address. Reuters

David Josef Volodzko, SCMP: Is North Korea’s Kim Jong-un serious about peace or just playing everybody (again)?

Pyongyang rang in the new year with open arms to its neighbours, but analysts are sceptical whether the recent play is anything more than subterfuge.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un began the new year with a speech in which he threatened “all of the mainland United States” with nuclear war while at the time offering South Korea an olive branch, suggesting to send a delegation to the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which begin on February 9.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in immediately responded by proposing high-level inter-Korean talks to discuss its participation on January 9, to which the North has since agreed, marking the first time such talks will have taken place since December 2015, and signalling a personal triumph for Moon, who has made getting the North to the negotiation table his presidential raison d’être.

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WNU Editor: Is North Korea’s Kim Jong-un serious about peace ? The answer is no.