to deliver a nuclear weapon to the continental United States. According to state media, Kim had “a broad smile on his face, [when he] told officials, scientists and technicians that the U.S. would be displeased to witness the DPRK’s strategic option as it was given a ‘package of gifts’…on its ‘Independence Day.’ ” Kim also taunted the United States, directing North Korean scientists “to frequently send big and small ‘gift packages’ to the Yankees” and claiming that he would “not step back even one step from the path…to strengthen the nuclear-armed forces” unless the “U.S. hostile policy and nuclear threat to the DPRK are definitely terminated.”
Alarmed and surprised at the test’s success and the regime’s blatantly hostile comments, leaders from both China and Russia condemned the test as “unacceptable” and cautioned against “any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions.” Their foreign ministries released a joint statement that said in part: “The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic rocket launches.” Anxious about U.S. and South Korean escalatory responses, Moscow and Beijing demanded that Seoul and Washington “refrain from carrying out large-scale joint exercises.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world.” Tillerson’s statement was appropriately condemnatory, a respectably strong comment that one would expect from a senior official from the United States. President Trump, however, had a decidedly Trumpian response. He tweeted, “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”
In response to these condemnations and to the U.S.–South Korean show of force, which included launching a “deep strike” missile drill, Kim Jong Un immediately declared that North Korea will “demonstrate its mettle to the U.S.” and that he would never put his nuclear weapons program up for negotiation. Just a couple of weeks later, as if to put a punctuation mark on its Independence Day test, North Korea conducted a second test of the ICBM that went even higher, with a potential range of six thousand miles, which would put major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago at risk. And then in September, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test.
KIM DIGS IN HIS HEELS
The ensuing months of 2017 were a blur of additional ballistic missile tests, scrambles at the United Nations and in various capitals to issue statements and additional sanctions, and tweets and threats between Kim and Trump, creating a crisis atmosphere that was thick with tension and fearful anticipation. It was one thing for North Korea to be behaving badly, but it was unprecedented for the U.S. president to be issuing inflammatory statements through his social media account, amplified by the highly influential platform from which he put out those tweets and the media that repeated and reported on every word.
Even as the Moon administration in South Korea sought to tame tensions and Secretary of State Tillerson stated Washington’s willingness for dialogue, President Trump seemed to relish the war of words with Kim. In The Art of the Deal, first published in 1987, Trump had said, “When people treat me badly or unfairly or try to take advantage of me, my general attitude, all my life, has been to fight back very hard.” A few years later, in 1990, he told Playboy: “When somebody tries to sucker-punch me, when they’re after my ass, I push back a hell of a lot harder than I was pushed in the first place. If somebody tries to push me around, he’s going to pay a price. Those people don’t come back for seconds. I don’t like being pushed around or taken advantage of.” That tough, competitive approach held firm even on the campaign trail and in the White House, as Trump belittled those who disagreed with him, calling them names and issuing hyperbolic statements, at times with little regard for the facts. That willingness to engage in a showdown was on full display in Trump’s response to Kim’s highly provocative actions in the fall and winter of 2017.
Kim, for his part, wasn’t falling for it. He has most likely read The Art