north korea 2
north korea 2

By Isabel van Brugen

The United States, on Wednesday, Dec. 25, sent four surveillance planes over the Korean Peninsula. That after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened President Donald Trump with a possible “Christmas gift,” saying that the Trump administration was running out of time to salvage nuclear negotiations.

According to an aviation tracker, the U.S. flew four aircraft—the RC-135W Rivet Joint, E-8C, RQ-4 Global Hawk and RC-135S Cobra Ball—simultaneously over the region between Christmas Eve and early Christmas Day, reported South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. The aircraft was believed to have carried out missions near the peninsula.

It comes amid heightened tensions between the nations, as negotiations between U.S. and North Korean officials stalled when a summit earlier this year between Trump and Kim came to a halt abruptly.

In a move described as unusual by the news agency, the aircraft flew as high as 53,000 feet above North Korea, according to the aviation tracking service Aircraft. The RC-135W flew at 31,000 feet, while the RC-135S took off from Japan’s Kadena Air Base and carried out missions over the East Sea, and a KC-135R refueling aircraft also flew over the East Sea.

It came a day after Pyongyang’s veiled threat, which warned the United States to decide what “Christmas gift” it would get, sparking fears the region might be preparing an intercontinental ballistic missile test.

“We’ll find out what the surprise is, and we’ll deal with it very successfully. Everybody’s got surprises for me, but let’s see what happens. I handle them as they come along,” Trump joked on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“Maybe it’s a nice present. Maybe it’s a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don’t know. You never know.”

Relations between Trump and Kim strained as the North Korean leader gave the U.S. until the end of the year to propose new concessions in talks over his country’s nuclear arsenal.

The pair have met three times since 2018, but there has been no substantive progress. North Korea has demanded an end to international sanctions while the United States says Pyongyang must first commit to giving up its nuclear weapons.

In issuing its warning, North Korea accused Washington of trying to drag out denuclearization talks ahead of Trump’s re-election bid next year. It said it was “entirely up to the United States what Christmas gift it will select to get.”

The United States military commanders have said that the North Korean response could involve the testing of a long-range missile, something North Korea has suspended, along with nuclear bomb tests, since 2017.

Trump has repeatedly held up the test suspensions as evidence that his policy of engaging with North Korea works.

Pyongyang last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile—a Hwasong-15—in November 2017, saying it was capable of reaching all of the United States.

North Korea has conducted repeated tests of short-range missiles this year, and this month carried out what appeared to be engine tests at a rocket-testing facility.

North Korean propaganda outlet Meari on Dec. 26 hit out at United States surveillance as a “provocative” move, reported Yonhap news agency.

“We are fully ready for any situations no matter what direction the United States’ oppressive scheme against North Korea would go,” it said. “We are closely watching hostile forces’ provocative schemes. They should know that our patience also has a limit.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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