North Korea: We have nothing more to lose, old impatient Trump

A senior government official warned the US president not to comment "inappropriately and dangerously" on Kim in light of the literal escalation between the two countries. The Communist state warns the White House not to underestimate the ultimatum it set for the end of the year

North Korea: We have nothing more to lose, old impatient Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may change his stance on US President Donald Trump if he continues to speak "inappropriately and dangerously" - a Pyongyang senior official said on Monday, calling Trump "an impatient old man".

Kim Yung Chul, a senior government official who helped organize the second and failed summit between Kim and Trump in Vietnam in February this year, said the United States is ignoring the ultimatum set by Pyongyang to Washington to soften its positions in nuclear disarmament talks by the end of the year. "We have nothing more to lose," he said in a statement issued by the Korean News Agency.

He repeated the threat from last week to again call Trump "old senile," as Kim did during the insult war with the president of the United States in his first year at the White House. Last week, Trump referred to Kim as the "missile man" again, which angered Pyongyang.

Kim Yung Chul said Trump should try to stop the "ticking clock" in the face of a confrontation, rather than clinging to "abnormal and unrealistic hypocrisy and hypocrisy." He said, "We have no intention of reconsidering what we will do in the future, and we will not worry about our future action."

North Korean ambassador to the UN: Nuclear disarmament is not at stake

Trump and Kim in the demilitarized border area, June (Photo: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, June 30, 2019 (Photo: Reuters)

Trump said yesterday that Kim could lose "everything" if he returned to a hostile policy toward the United States, saying that North Korea must disarm and not interfere in the upcoming US election. This is after Pyongyang announced yesterday that it was conducting a "very significant experiment". Experts and satellite imagery pointed to a rocket engine experiment on a satellite launch site, some of which was dismantled after the first historic summit between Trump and Kim in June 2018, but was reassembled in light of the stalemate in talks.

The South Korean Department of Defense said the experiment site was being monitored and that it was being closely scrutinized by the US intelligence services. Some South Korean experts said that North Korea may have experimented with a solid-fuel rocket engine in favor of its intercontinental missiles. With its help, it can hide them more easily and deploy them faster.

Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asian Nuclear Non-Proliferation Program at the International Studies Institute in Middlebury, California, said satellite images documenting the site in Sohaha showed vehicles and equipment that were likely used for a rocket engine experiment. "The majority disappeared on Dec. 8, but signs are visible from the ground after the experiment," said Lewis, who cited new images taken yesterday.

"They may have tried to see the thrust and duration of a solid-fuel missile engine for an intercontinental missile," a diplomatic official in Seoul told Reuters. "That's actually what they can do on the ground at this point without launching anything in the air."

Officials and experts estimate that North Korea has used Soviet-era liquid-fueled engines during its long-range or satellite missile launches in recent years, while developing ballistic missile launches based on solid fuel.

In March 2016, Kim oversaw a "successful" test on a solid fuel-powered missile engine. While exploring a new submarine missile launch in February 2017, the country's tyrant dictator declared a "complete change" in the use of solid fuel rather than liquid fuel.

Prepared for policy change. Kim riding a horse last week (Photo: Reuters)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rides a horse while visiting Mount Factu on December 3, 2019 (Photo: Reuters)

In the past two years, Kim and Trump have met three times, but nuclear weapons negotiations and Pyongyang's ballistic missile arsenal remain stuck due to controversies and growing tensions. The year North Korea conducted missile experiments, though short-lived, Kim warns that the United States should change its policy by the end of the year, or it will turn to a "new way" that it has not yet revealed. "Other signs suggesting the upcoming turnaround were cycling Kim on horseback at the foot of Mount Facto, a sanctuary in North Korean mythology, and an unusual party leadership convention later this month.

It is estimated that North Korea may launch a long-range missile or conduct a nuclear test, which it avoided for almost two years, after the deadline. Trump, who is running for a second term in next year's elections, describes suspending long-range missile launches and nuclear trials as a significant achievement for his disputed relationship with the dictatorial regime.