WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump's relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un featured the former reality-star president at his most theatric: threats of "fire and fury," followed by splashy meetings, a trip to the demilitarized border with South Korea and exchanges of "love letters" with the authoritarian ruler.
Trump's efforts failed to slow North Korea's development of new nuclear weapons and missiles. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has taken a lower-key approach in the hopes of convincing Kim to take a serious stab at diplomacy. That strategy that has not yet born fruit, and U.S. officials are bracing for a possible nuclear test or missile test by Pyongyang while Biden is in South Korea or Japan. Just days before Biden arrived in Seoul, North Korea launched three short-range ballistic missiles into the sea.
"There is a genuine possibility and real risk of some kind of provocation," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One before Biden landed in Seoul on Friday.
