Test Seen as Push by Kim for Credibility
By defying warnings not only from the United States but also from its ally China to detonate a nuclear device on Tuesday, Kim Jong-un was trying to increase his status as a worthy leader among his people in North Korea and as a foe to be taken seriously among the nations his government considers its enemies. …
… With the nuclear test on Tuesday, Mr. Kim appeared to have chosen the defiant path for now, and analysts said there was good reason for that.
“Now is a particularly opportune time for Kim Jong-un to reset his relations with the powers in the region,” said Lee Sung-yoon, a North Korea specialist at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts. “Pyongyang will calculate that after a decent interval of three or four months, its adversaries will return to negotiations, possibly with bigger blandishments in tow.”
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