North Korea talks: olive branch or cynical ploy?
Kim Jong Un may be trying to create tension between South Korea and the US

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used his New Year address to offer an “olive branch” to South Korea, saying he was prepared to send a delegation of athletes to next month’s Winter Olympics in the South Korean county of Pyeongchang.
CNN reports that Kim “struck an unusually conciliatory tone”, declaring his wish “for peaceful resolution with our southern border”.
But his speech also contained thinly veiled threats, noting that “the entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, a nuclear button is always on my desk”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The New York Times suggests that the North Korean leader’s comments may be part of a “canny new strategy to initiate direct talks with South Korea in the hope of driving a wedge into its seven-decade alliance” with the US.
And the plan may be working.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in called Kim’s offer a “groundbreaking” chance to improve relations, The Guardian reports. South Korea has already suggested 9 January as a possible meeting date for high-level talks.
Kim has yet to respond.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Youngshik Daniel Bong, a research fellow at Seoul’s Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies, told the BBC that “North Korea usually ignores South Korea, maintaining the position that as a ‘nuclear power’ it will deal with the US on its own”. According to Bong, “it appears that by engaging the South, he hopes to create an estrangement between South Korea and the US”.
-
The ‘Shakespearean bitterness’ of the thermostat wars
Talking Point ‘Genuine physiological differences’ mean women and men are at odds over temperatures at home
-
China’s rare earth controls
The Explainer Beijing has shocked Washington with export restrictions on minerals used in most electronics
-
Quiz of The Week: 11 – 17 October
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime minister
In the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
Remaking the military: Pete Hegseth’s war on diversity and ‘fat generals’
Talking Point The US Secretary of War addressed military members on ‘warrior ethos’
-
How does the Nobel Peace Prize work?
The Explainer Activist María Corina Machado wins prestigious prize, despite public campaign by Donald Trump
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace plan
Speed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s plan
Speed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sites
Speed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace plan
Speed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza