President Donald Trump on Tuesday taunted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warning Kim about the US' nuclear capabilities as tensions worsen between the two nations.

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump tweeted.

The evening message followed more than a dozen others Trump had sent throughout the day on issues ranging from The New York Times' coverage of his administration to conflict in the Middle East.

Kim had said Monday in his annual New Year's Day address that "The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality." </s> WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump boasted that he has a bigger and more powerful “nuclear button” than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un does — but the president doesn’t actually have a physical button.

The president’s Tuesday evening tweet came in response to Kim’s New Year’s address, in which he repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Kim said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk and warned that “the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike.”

Trump mocked that assertion, writing, “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

But despite ratcheting up the tension, Trump doesn’t really have a nuclear button.

The process for launching a nuclear strike is secret and complex and involves the use of a nuclear “football,” which is carried by a rotating group of military officers everywhere the president goes and is equipped with communication tools and a book with prepared war plans.

If the president were to order a strike, he would identify himself to military officials at the Pentagon with codes unique to him. Those codes are recorded on a card known as the “biscuit” that is carried by the president at all times. He would then transmit the launch order to the Pentagon and Strategic Command.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump sounded open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after Kim made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Year’s address. But Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations insisted talks would not be meaningful unless the North was getting rid of its nuclear weapons.

In a morning tweet, Trump said the U.S.-led campaign of sanctions and other pressure were beginning to have a “big impact” on North Korea. He referred to the recent, dramatic escape of at least two North Korean soldiers across the heavily militarized border into South Korea. He also alluded to Kim’s comments Monday that he was willing to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics, which will be hosted by South Korea next month.

“Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not — we will see!” Trump said, using his derisive moniker for the young North Korean leader.

In response to Kim’s overture, South Korea Tuesday offered high-level talks Jan. 9 at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties. The South said Wednesday that North Korea’s state-run radio station announced the North would reopen a cross-border communication channel.

If there are talks, they would be the first formal dialogue between the Koreas since December 2015. Relations have plunged as the North has accelerated its nuclear and ballistic missile development that now poses a direct threat to America, South Korea’s crucial ally.

The U.S. administration, however, voiced suspicions that Kim was seeking to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington. Pyongyang could view a closer relationship with Seoul as a way for reducing its growing international isolation and relief from sanctions that are starting to bite the North’s meager economy.

“We won’t take any of the talks seriously if they don’t do something to ban all nuclear weapons in North Korea,” U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters at the United Nations. “We consider this to be a very reckless regime. We don’t think we need a Band-Aid, and we don’t think we need to smile and take a picture.”

North Korea has been punished with unprecedented sanctions at the U.N. over its weapons programs, and Haley warned Tuesday of more measures if the North conducts another missile test.

South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in has supported Trump’s pressure campaign against North Korea, but he’s less confrontational than the U.S. president and favors dialogue to ease the North’s nuclear threats. Moon has long said he sees the Pyeongchang Olympics as a chance to improve inter-Korean ties.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. would continue to put “maximum pressure” on North Korea to give up its nukes. South Korea shares that same goal, she said.

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday taunted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warning Kim about the US’ nuclear capabilities as tensions worsen between the two nations.

“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Trump tweeted.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

The evening message followed more than a dozen others Trump had sent throughout the day on issues ranging from The New York Times’ coverage of his administration to conflict in the Middle East.

Kim had said Monday in his annual New Year’s Day address that “The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality.” </s> Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Tuesday taunted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warning Kim about US nuclear capabilities as tensions worsen between the two nations.

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump tweeted.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the "Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times." Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

The evening message followed more than a dozen others Trump had sent throughout the day on issues ranging from The New York Times' coverage of his administration to conflict in the Middle East.

Kim's address came amid growing tension

Kim said Monday in his annual New Year's Day address that "The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality."

In the address, Kim also expressed a desire for a peaceful resolution with South Korea, a break from the aggressive language he used to threaten the US.

Trump, as part of his Tuesday morning tweetstorm, said the potentially warm gesture to South Korea from Kim is "perhaps" good news, "perhaps not," and referred to "sanctions and 'other' pressures" on North Korea.

Sanctions and "other" pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said at the White House news briefing that the US approach to North Korea had not changed, that the US continues to regard North Korea as a global threat and seeks an international solution while keeping "all of our options on the table."

Trump has repeatedly made statements about North Korea via Twitter. The President said it was a waste of time for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to negotiate with North Korea -- referring to Kim in the tweet as "Little Rocket Man" -- shortly after the US diplomat said he hoped to de-escalate the standoff through talks. After a North Korean statement insulted Trump by calling him a "dotard," the US President tweeted that he would "NEVER" call the North Korean leader "short and fat," while also saying that "maybe someday" he would be Kim's friend.

South Korea initially receptive to possible dialogue

Recent years have seen North Korea display increasing strength in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development, while Kim makes provocative statements threatening to attack his enemies. In November, North Korea claimed it had the capability to attack any part of the US mainland.

The UN Security Council has voted to ratchet up sanctions in response to the continued development of North Korea's nuclear program. Last month, the US conducted another round of military exercises with South Korea, which Kim called for South Korea to end in his New Year's statement.

But Kim's call for talks between the two countries at the beginning of the year struck many observers as noteworthy, and South Korean leadership has been receptive to Kim's potential openness to dialogue. The spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in said South Korea also hoped for a resolution between the two countries.

Moon said he would look to restore communication between the South and the isolated North, and that he welcomed North Korea participating in the Winter Olympic Games, which South Korea is hosting next month. </s> The alarming playground taunt comes after the North Korean despot warned that he can nuke anywhere in the USA by pressing a button on his desk. Donald Trump tweeted: “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” The sabre-rattling tweet has prompted fears that Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un are pushing the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war.

Eliot A Cohen, who was counselor to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, tweeted: “Spoken like a petulant ten year old. “But one with nuclear weapons - for real - at his disposal. How responsible people around him, or supporting him, can dismiss this or laugh it off is beyond me.” There are fears that Mr Trump's mockery could enrage Kim Jong-un who gave mixed messages in his New Year’s address to North Korea. In the address, he declared: “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat.”

Despite provoking Mr Trump with the threat, the North Korean leader said the weapons will only be used if North Korea’s security is threatened. The dictator also hinted at sending a team to the Olympics in Seoul and starting towards peace talks with South Korea. Just hours after Mr Trump’s sabre-rattling tweet, North Korea reopened a long-closed border hotline with South Korea today. Frank Jannuzi, who took part in the Clinton administration’s talks with North Korea, said that the call for dialogue with South Korea was “critically important”.

He told PBS that North Korea claims to have established a nuclear deterrent, adding: “It perhaps opens the door to dialogue first with South Korea and hopefully down the road with the United States.” Asked if North Korea is driving a wedge between South Korean and the USA, he said: “I think we shouldn’t worry too much. “The South Korean-US alliance is as strong as I have ever seen it in 30 years of looking at that special partnership.” Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said that they were hearing reports that North Korea might be preparing for another missile test. </s> SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un warned the United States Monday he has a “nuclear button” on his table but offered an apparent olive branch to South Korea in a New Year message, saying he was prepared for talks and may send a team to the Winter Olympics there.

Kim struck a generally defiant note after a year of rising tensions marked by the North’s multiple missile launches and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test — purportedly of a hydrogen bomb.

“We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles and speed up their deployment,” he said in his annual televised address to the nation.

He reiterated his claim that his country had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state but insisted the expansion of the weapons program was a defensive measure.

“We should always keep readiness to take immediate nuclear counter-attacks against the enemy’s scheme for a nuclear war.”

The North claims it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from a hostile Washington and has striven to create a warhead capable of targeting the US mainland with an atomic warhead.

US President Donald Trump has responded to each test with his own amplified declarations, threatening to “totally destroy” Pyongyang and taunting Kim, saying he was on “a suicide mission.”

But far from persuading Kim to give up his nuclear drive, analysts say Trump’s tough talk may have prompted the North Korean leader to push through with his dangerous quest.

“(The North) can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the US and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the US from playing with fire,” Kim said Monday.

“The nuclear button is always on my table. The US must realize this is not blackmail but reality.”

‘Make a breakthrough’

 When asked for a response to Kim’s claim that he had a nuclear button on his desk, Trump said “We’ll see, we’ll see,” in comments to reporters during the New Year’s Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Kim also sugared his speech Monday with a conciliatory tone towards Seoul, indicating for the first time that the North is considering taking part in the South’s Winter Olympics next month.

“(The Olympics) will serve as a good chance to display our Korean people’s grace toward the world and we sincerely hope the Games will be a success,” he said.

The North and the South should “depart from the past, improve relations and take decisive measures to make a breakthrough in efforts to achieve reunification,” he said.

“Should the Olympics be staged successfully, it will contribute to peace not only on the Korean peninsula but in the region and the world as well,” it said in a statement.

Some analysts said Kim may be trying indirectly to lower the temperature with Washington.

At a time when the risk of a US pre-emptive strike is “higher than ever,” Koh Yu-Hwan, political science professor at Dongguk University, said the speech indicated Kim was using the Olympics gesture to “shift from confrontation to peaceful coexistence with the United States.”

“When he said a nuclear launch button is always on his desk, he is hinting it is not necessary for the North to stage nuclear or ICBM tests in the foreseeable future,” Koh told AFP, adding however that Kim also wanted to build “massive nuclear retaliation capabilities.”

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said Kim “is extending an olive branch toward the South as the US is expected to keep up with pressure and sanctions on the country throughout this year… as a whole the emphasis is on peace rather than confrontation.”

In December the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed new, US-drafted sanctions against Pyongyang, restricting oil supplies vital for the impoverished state.

The most recent set of sanctions, which the North slammed as an “act of war”, also received the backing of China — the country’s sole major ally and economic lifeline.

Observers say Washington must open talks with the North to defuse tensions but that remains a challenge.

Pyongyang has always said it will only deal with the US from a position of equality as a nuclear state. Washington has long insisted that it will not accept a nuclear-armed North. </s> UNITED NATIONS/SEOUL: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, warned North Korea on Tuesday against staging another missile test and said Washington would not take any talks between North and South Korea seriously if they did not do something to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

Haley told reporters the United States was hearing reports that North Korea might be preparing to fire another missile.

"I hope that doesn't happen. But if it does, we must bring even tougher measures to bear against the North Korean regime," Haley said.

South Korea on Tuesday offered talks with North Korea next week, amid a tense standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year's Day speech that he was "open to dialogue" with Seoul.

Kim also said he was open to the possibility of North Korean athletes taking part in Winter Olympics South Korea hosts next month.

At the same time, he stressed that his country would push ahead with "mass producing" nuclear warheads in defiance of U.N. sanctions and that he had a nuclear button on his desk capable of launching missiles at the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump responded to Kim in a Twitter post on Tuesday: "Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"

Haley said the United States would not take talks seriously if they did not take steps toward banning North Korea's nuclear weapons.

"North Korea can talk to anyone they want, but the U.S. is not going to recognise it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons that they have," she said.

Haley gave no details of the missile test preparations.

Another U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were indications that could point toward a potential missile launch “sooner rather than later,” but cautioned that such signs had been seen in the past and no test had resulted.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said North Korea might be "trying to drive a wedge of some sort" between the United States and South Korea and added that while it was up to Seoul to decide who it talked to: "We are very skeptical of Kim Jong Un's sincerity in sitting down and having talks."

Trump, who has led a global drive to pressure North Korea through sanctions to give up development of nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States, earlier held back judgment on Pyongyang's offer to talk, saying on Twitter:

"Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. "Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see!"

Trump has frequently derided Kim as "rocket man." The U.S. president said sanctions and other pressures were starting to have a big impact on North Korea.

Kim and Trump have exchanged fiery barbs in the last year and the U.S. president has warned that the United States would have no choice but to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies.

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy the United States, South Korea and Japan and tested its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile in November, which it said was capable of delivering a warhead anywhere in the United States.

South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon said the offer for high-level talks next Tuesday had been discussed with the United States. Nauert said she was not aware if the matter had been discussed in advance of the South Korean response.

Cho suggested the talks be held at the border village of Panmunjom and said they should be focused on North Korea's participation at the Olympics, but other issues would likely arise, including the denuclearisation of North Korea.

"I repeat: The government is open to talking with North Korea, regardless of time, location and form," Cho said.

Should the talks be held, it would be the first such dialogue since a vice-ministerial meeting in December 2015.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed Kim's New Year address and asked his government to move as quickly as possible to bring North Korea to the Olympics, but he stressed that an improvement in inter-Korean relations "cannot go separately with resolving North Korea's nuclear programme".

China, which has persistently urged a return to talks to ease tensions, said recent positive comments from North and South Korea were a good thing.

"China welcomes and supports North Korea and South Korea taking earnest efforts to treat this as an opportunity to improve mutual relations, promote the alleviation of the situation on the Korean peninsula and realize denuclearisation on the peninsula," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. </s> U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in North Korea on Wednesday to finalize details of a planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un. A look at recent events in U.S.-North Korea relations:

Jan. 1, 2017: Kim Jong Un says in a New Year's address that preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile have "reached the final stage."

Jan. 2: President-elect Donald Trump tweets, "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!"

July 4: North Korea conducts its first flight test of an ICBM, the Hwasong-14, which Kim calls the North's "package of gifts" for the U.S.'s Independence Day.

July 28: A second Hwasong-14 is launched with an estimated range reaching into the U.S. mainland, including cities such as Chicago.

Aug. 9: Trump says North Korea had best not make more threats or "they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." North Korea hours later announces a plan to launch a salvo of missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam, a major military hub in the Pacific. The North does not carry out on the threat.

Aug. 29: An intermediate-range North Korean missile flies over Japan and plunges into the northern Pacific.

Sept. 3: North Korea carries out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date, saying it was a hydrogen bomb designed for use on ICBMs.

Sept. 19: Trump tells the U.N. General Assembly the United States would "totally destroy North Korea" if forced to defend itself or its allies. He refers to Kim as "Rocket Man" and that he's "on a suicide mission for himself."

Sept. 22: Kim accuses Trump of "mentally deranged behavior." He says he will "surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire."

Nov. 29: North Korea's third ICBM test demonstrates a potential range that could reach Washington, D.C.

Jan. 1, 2018: Kim says in his New Year's address that he has a nuclear button on his desk, but also calls for improved relations with South Korea. Trump soon responds that he has a bigger and more powerful nuclear button, "and my Button works!"

Jan. 9: North and South Korean officials meet in the border village of Panmunjom, and agree on North Korea sending athletes and delegates to the Winter Olympics taking place in the South the following month.

March 7: A top South Korean official visits Pyongyang and says Kim is willing to discuss the fate of his nuclear arsenal with the United States and has expressed a readiness to suspend nuclear and missile tests during such talks.

March 9: Trump accepts Kim's invitation to meet, which the White House says will take place by the end of May.

March 27: Kim makes a surprise visit to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an apparent move to strengthen his leverage ahead of his negotiations with Trump.

April 18: Trump confirmed that Pompeo, then the CIA chief, secretly met with Kim in North Korea and said "a good relationship was formed" heading into the adversaries' anticipated summit.

April 21: North Korea says it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to close its nuclear test site as part of a move to shift its national focus and improve its economy. Trump tweeted, "This is very good news for North Korea and the World" and "big progress!"

May 7: Kim meets Xi again in China's Dailan and calls for stronger "strategic cooperation" between the traditional allies amid shifts in the region's political environment.

May 9: Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang for meetings ahead of Trump's planned summit with Kim. The Kim-Trump meeting is anticipated for May or June. </s> U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in North Korea on Wednesday to finalize details of a planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un . A look at recent events in U.S.-North Korea relations: 

 

 Jan. 1, 2017: Kim Jong Un says in a New Year's address that preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile have "reached the final stage." 

 

 Jan. 2: President-elect Donald Trump tweets, "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" 

 

 July 4: North Korea conducts its first flight test of an ICBM, the Hwasong-14, which Kim calls the North's "package of gifts" for the U.S.'s Independence Day. 

 

 July 28: A second Hwasong-14 is launched with an estimated range reaching into the U.S. mainland, including cities such as Chicago. 

 

 Aug. 9: Trump says North Korea had best not make more threats or "they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." North Korea hours later announces a plan to launch a salvo of missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam, a major military hub in the Pacific. The North does not carry out on the threat. 

 

 Aug. 29: An intermediate-range North Korean missile flies over Japan and plunges into the northern Pacific. 

 

 Sept. 3: North Korea carries out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date, saying it was a hydrogen bomb designed for use on ICBMs. 

 

 Sept. 19: Trump tells the U.N. General Assembly the United States would "totally destroy North Korea" if forced to defend itself or its allies. He refers to Kim as "Rocket Man" and that he's "on a suicide mission for himself." 

 

 Sept. 22: Kim accuses Trump of "mentally deranged behavior." He says he will "surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire." 

 

 Nov. 29: North Korea's third ICBM test demonstrates a potential range that could reach Washington, D.C. 

 

 Jan. 1, 2018: Kim says in his New Year's address that he has a nuclear button on his desk, but also calls for improved relations with South Korea. Trump soon responds that he has a bigger and more powerful nuclear button, "and my Button works!" 

 

 Jan. 9: North and South Korean officials meet in the border village of Panmunjom, and agree on North Korea sending athletes and delegates to the Winter Olympics taking place in the South the following month. 

 

 March 7: A top South Korean official visits Pyongyang and says Kim is willing to discuss the fate of his nuclear arsenal with the United States and has expressed a readiness to suspend nuclear and missile tests during such talks. 

 

 March 9: Trump accepts Kim's invitation to meet, which the White House says will take place by the end of May. 

 

 March 27: Kim makes a surprise visit to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an apparent move to strengthen his leverage ahead of his negotiations with Trump. 

 

 April 18: Trump confirmed that Pompeo, then the CIA chief, secretly met with Kim in North Korea and said "a good relationship was formed" heading into the adversaries' anticipated summit. 

 

 April 21: North Korea says it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to close its nuclear test site as part of a move to shift its national focus and improve its economy. Trump tweeted, "This is very good news for North Korea and the World" and "big progress!" 

 

 April 27: Kim holds a summit meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. 

 

 May 7: Kim meets Xi again in China's Dailan and calls for stronger "strategic cooperation" between the traditional allies amid shifts in the region's political environment. 

 

 May 9: Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang for meetings ahead of Trump's planned summit with Kim. The Kim-Trump meeting is anticipated for May or June. 

 

 Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.S. President Donald Trump responds to Kim Jong-un's claim of having North Korea's nuclear missile launch button on his desk, boasting that the size of the nuclear missile launch button on his own desk is larger and more powerful than Kim's.