Stand off between most dangerous men

Donald Trump recently took to twitter to praise the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a glaring change of tone from the US President.

Donald Trump recently took to Twitter to praise the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a glaring change of tone.

After alternating a sequence of threats and insults of late, pulls between Washington and Pyongyang mounted and the threat of war had become an increasingly likely possibility. Nonetheless, President Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning: “Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well-reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!”

The remarks appeared to be in relation to Kim Jong-un’s decision to suspend the plan to fire four missiles at the US territory of Guam. President Trump formerly said North Korea would be greeted with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” and cautioned Pyongyang to be “very, very nervous” because the US military is “locked and loaded” and all set for war.

President Trump formerly said North Korea would be greeted with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” and cautioned Pyongyang to be “very, very nervous” because the US military is “locked and loaded” and all set for war.

They were once avowed communist rivals, however, North Korea’s swelling tensions with the US has gotten China and Russia closer so as to banish the threat of a catastrophic nuclear war. On Monday, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA said: ”He [Kim] 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.”

North Korea’s repeated missile tests have always brought condemnation from countries around the world and prompted the UN to introduce a series of sanctions against the despotic state. The new sanctions target the hermit state’s primary exports, including coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood – and Pyongyang’s close ties with Beijing have also been hit.

A statement from Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN said the resolutions represented “the strongest sanctions ever imposed in response to a ballistic missile test” and will cut North Korea’s annual export revenue of £2.3billion by more than a third.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to pursue peaceful means to secure a solution to the ongoing tensions. She said: “I am totally against the rhetorical armament that is being used by all sides … There is no military solution to this conflict, it must be worked out via negotiations.”We must use such means then … we can avoid a catastrophe and we must do everything possible to do that. I am doing everything I can at least.”

Her foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel added that Chinese pressure on North Korea is making Germany more optimistic, and he also praised US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in trying to pursue a resolution without resorting to conflict.