After Trump stressed no preconditions, Kim issued a clear warning warning to warn the United States not to have dangerous military activities on the peninsula.

On October 4, North Korea held a weapons and equipment exhibition called "Defense Development 2025", and Kim Jong-un personally came to the scene and made a clear statement to the people present: the recent series of military actions undertaken by the United States on the Korean Peninsula have created a "serious and actual threat" to North Korea's national security.

He also said that if the United States continues to expand its armed forces regardless, North Korea will surely take "military-technical measures" to counter.

This is not just a casual remark. At this exhibition, North Korea showed a lot of guys at the bottom of the box-new hypersonic missiles, strategic cruise missiles and other sophisticated weapons were all displayed.

Especially that "Mars cannon-16B" high-speed supersonic missile, used in the complex multi-curved multi-wave design, can play in the edge of the atmosphere "water floating" motion, the range can cover the entire Asia-Pacific region.

The White House reaction was quick. As early as September 30th, a few days before North Korea held an arms exhibition, Trump spoke through a spokesman that he was willing to talk to North Korea unconditionally.On the surface, the United States seems to have taken a step back, but if you think about it carefully, you will find that this is actually a "fuzzy" strategy.

In the past, the United States said that "denuclearization is a prerequisite for negotiation", and now changed to "no prerequisites", not saying to give up the goal of denuclearization, but also left a little room for the dialogue between the two sides.

This adjustment in rhetoric is in line with the Trump administration's dual logic of "pressure + dialogue". They had previously developed a policy called "Maximum Intensity Pressure and Intervention". The "intervention" mentioned here means looking for an opportunity to sit down and have a chat.

But North Korea is not a soft persimmon, and it will not follow the rhythm of the United States. As early as September 21st, Kim Jong-un made a speech at the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK. He said that if the United States can give up its persistence on "North Korea's denuclearization" and genuinely want to live in peace with North Korea, there is no reason for North Korea not to talk to the United States.

But he also made clear: North Korea "cannot ever give up nuclear weapons", and specifically mentioned the "good memories" of the past with Trump.The outside viewed this statement, felt it was an important signal that North Korea is willing to resume the dialogue - both left room and no loose core position.

The game between the United States and North Korea has never been just a verbal confrontation, but a contest involving military, political and economic aspects. At the beginning of 2025, the three countries of the United States, Japan and South Korea have not been idle. Joint military exercises have been held one after another, both in scale and frequency, reaching new highs in recent years.

Let's talk about the joint air exercise between the United States, Japan and South Korea on July 11th. It was the first time that the U.S. B-52H strategic bomber participated in such an exercise on the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean Air Force dispatched KF-16 fighter jets, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force also dispatched F-2 fighter jets.

During the exercise, the chiefs of general staff of the three countries also went to Seoul for a meeting to discuss follow-up actions. In September, they held another joint military exercise "Blade of Freedom". This time, it was even more special. It added cyber defense content for the first time, obviously wanting to create the ability to coordinate operations in multiple fields.

Faced with this pressing pressure, North Korea has not been idle. In addition to the weapons exhibition mentioned above, North Korea has tested missiles several times during the half of 2025. On January 6, North Korea tested a new type of high-speed medium-range ballistic missile, which flew at 12 times the speed of sound, and finally precisely hit a target 1,500 kilometers away.

On February 26, they also engaged in strategic cruise missile launches exercises, the missile flew 1587 km after hitting the target, and Kim Jong-un also personally came to the scene to command the town, after which he said it was a "responsible test of the reliability of nuclear deterrence".

What deserves more attention is North Korea's breakthrough in military technology. Or the "Mars Gun-16B" hypersonic missile, which uses the aerodynamic shape of the wave body, allowing the missile to make a jump maneuver at the edge of the atmosphere, now the air defense systems of various countries want to stop it, it is quite difficult.

According to outside speculation, the missile has a range of between 4000 and 6000 kilometers, and its coverage is covered by the US military base in Japan and Guam, which are strategic locations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The United States and North Korea have their own calculations behind this round of mutual testing. For the United States, its focus is now on the Indo-Pacific region and does not want to spend too much energy on the Korean Peninsula issue.

The Trump administration proposes "no preconditions" dialogue because on the one hand, it wants to ease tensions on the peninsula and earn itself a reputation as a "peace promoter"; on the other hand, it also does not want to offend domestic conservatives-after all, the U.S. Treasury has not relented yet, and sanctions against North Korea are still maintained. This shows that even if the United States wants to talk, the basis for pressure has not changed.

North Korea's core appeal is clear: it hopes that the United States can recognize its nuclear status. Kim Jong-un has emphasized more than once that nuclear weapons are North Korea's "last barrier to security". In North Korea's view, only with nuclear weapons in hand can it be qualified for equal dialogue when playing a game with the United States.

This position is unrelated to the long-standing security environment facing North Korea. The United States and South Korea have to conduct several joint military exercises every year, and the US military has also deployed the Sadr anti-missile system in South Korea. These are "aggressive military threats" in the eyes of North Korea. Kim Jong-un even bluntly said that the United States and South Korea are essentially trying to "weaken North Korea's power and overthrow the North Korean system".

In this game, South Korea's role is quite subtle. In August, when South Korean President Lee Jae-ming visited the White House, he made suggestions to the United States that he could take the opportunity of the APEC summit to promote dialogue between the United States and North Korea.

At the end of October this year, the APEC summit will be held in Chongqing, South Korea, and many people think that this may be a good opportunity to meet the US and DPRK leaders. but North Korea has not let go of caution about South Korea, Kim Jong-un has already made it clear that "will not sit in front of South Korea", all the attention is on the United States.

This approach is both a ¡°cold treatment¡± for South Korea and a signal to the United States: talk to us directly.

Although the United States and North Korea have signaled that they are willing to dialogue, the core differences between the two sides are still there and are not so easy to resolve. The United States has bitten the target of "denuclearization", while North Korea is determined not to give up nuclear weapons, which contradictions can not be completely reconciled in a short time.

More troublingly, the confidence between the US and the DPRK has long been broken. North Korea feels that the United States is "unbelievable" and the agreement negotiated before the "King Conference" has not come true; the United States in turn accuses North Korea of "deception", saying North Korea's nuclear program has been covertly advancing.

North Korea also has its own bottom line and will never give in easily. On September 23rd, North Korea made it clear: "The DPRK and the ROK will never merge into one country". This statement directly denies the idea of the United States to solve the peninsula issue through "peaceful reunification".

Kim Jong-un also stressed that North Korea will continue to develop nuclear and missile technology "until the United States changes its hostile policy." With this tough stance put forward, the outside world is mostly pessimistic about the prospects of the U.S. -North Korea dialogue.

This round of interaction between the United States and the DPRK is like a complicated pas de deux-both sides want to lean on the other side, but they all have concerns in their hearts; Both want to control the rhythm, but they are led by each other's movements. The next APEC summit may be an important observation window.

Source of information:

Phoenix TV: Kim Jong Un attended the opening ceremony of the weapons and equipment exhibition in Pyongyang and delivered a speech| scene picture

White House: Trump willing to negotiate with Kim Jong Un without prerequisites