As Kim Jong-un’s threats complicate China-Russia sanctions relief push, who will blink first?

Warning of nuclear tests and new strategic weapon signal deepening chasm between Pyongyang and Washington

Heightened tension not advisable, Beijing says, after display of belligerence that could undermine case to lift some sanctions

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North Korea has carried out numerous missile tests since talks with the US stalled. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:15am, 3 Jan 2020Updated: 8:52pm, 17 Feb 2020

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un stands at a crossroads, with his latest nuclear provocations jeopardising talks with the United States and presenting obstacles for China and Russia in their calls to ease sanctions on his regime, analysts said.

Kim this week warned of unspecified “shocking” action at a rare, multi-day internal meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, and pledged to bolster the country’s nuclear deterrent against what he called “gangster-like” pressure from the US, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Thursday urged North Korea to refrain from ratcheting up tensions.

“In the current situation, increasing tensions is not conducive to dialogue and is not advisable,” he said. “We hope that the relevant parties, especially [North Korea] and the US, will adhere to dialogue and consultation, walk in the opposite direction, actively seek ways to break the deadlock, and make practical efforts to promote a political settlement of the peninsula issue.”

In a 4,300-word report on Wednesday, the KCNA said Kim had made a seven-hour speech at the Workers’ Party meeting. Kim blamed the US for “wasting time away” by stalling talks about North Korean denuclearisation without a real intention to relax economic sanctions in return.