How will North Korea respond when 'cornered'?

(Baonghean.vn)- Currently, all public attention is focused on the steps that North Korea will take after its leader, Mr. Kim Jong-un, seemingly refused to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, Mr. Song Tao, while US President Donald Trump decided to put Pyongyang back on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AP

Song Tao ended his four-day visit to Pyongyang and returned home on November 20. However, no North Korean state media reported whether the official met with leader Kim Jong-un.

It is possible that the North Korean leader has ignored President Xi Jinping's gesture to mend North Korea-China relations and accelerated international isolation, as Pyongyang faces increased sanctions from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Analysts say that in these cases, North Korea's re-listing as a state sponsor of terrorism is seen as posing a greater challenge to efforts to resume dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

President Trump was initially expected to announce whether to re-blacklist North Korea last week, but he delayed the decision.

Mr. Song Tao, special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: AP

The delay comes after North Korea halted military provocations since mid-September, and raised hopes that Washington might consider resuming dialogue with Pyongyang, as suggested by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

An anonymous analyst said: "President Trump may be waiting to see how North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will react to President Xi Jinping's gesture of mending bilateral relations before making the above decision."

Professor Kim Hyun-wook of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy also agreed with this view, saying that “the US President may have judged that efforts to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table had failed, as Song Tao ended his visit to Pyongyang without any meeting with leader Kim Jong-un.”

Meanwhile, expert Cho Sung-ryul of the Korea Institute for National Security Studies commented that Washington's decision to put North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism was because "the Trump administration has decided to put aside the possibility of resuming dialogue with North Korea at the present time."

Experts also predict that with North Korea "cornered", the country may resume military provocations and once again increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula./.

Lan Ha

(According to Korea Times)