>>> this is the north korea you know. this is the north korea you've never seen. stories you've never heard. is that a legend or did that actually happen? >> translator: our general is someone who's heaven sent to us. >> reporter: places you've never been. people with a common enemy. who do you want to fight? >> translator: we fight the sworn enemy, americans. >> reporter: unprecedented access, hidden from the world until now. come with me to the secret state inside north korea. a nation holding its nuclear sword over the u.s. and its allies, threatening to strike at anytime. a society in a constant state of readiness for war. i've reported from north korea more mothan a dozen times over the years. each time we open the door a little more. and see this country and its people in unexpected ways. just like this. yep, even in north korea kids love video games. for these 14 and 15 year olds, these aren't just games. this is practice for real life. most oaf these boys and a lot of girls will spend most of their adulthood serving in the north korean state army just like

there is one stage, north korea. it owns nuclear weapons and if e see them and if this continues, security strategy in japan has to be changed. we do not want to change it. we are victim of nuclear, we are very allergic to have a good nuclear weapons or allowing other countries nuclear weapons in our land, so nonnuclear is the only option for many japanese people. there are only two options to do hat. one is to strengthen economic sanctions so we could have more effective diplomatic talks, or military option to some degree. we want to do it peacefully. how can we raise pressure and give the most to north korea bite -- but having them stop. having nonnuclear north korea is the only valuable option and i hope international community agrees. this is the additive of japan. -- the adjective of japan. >> it is interesting that if you ask the same question to experts, you are probably going to get the same answer even if you know more. what you find in the results is exactly what you might expected which is that most expect

that is because america -- a lot of americans support north korea and recognizing that north korea as a nuclear power. similar results can be found amongst japanese experts. have of japanese experts put the idea of recognizing north korea as a nuclear power, but this is a public poll. general public in america supposing that north korea is a nuclear power was a big surprise for the japanese. north korea, who is the neighbor to us, nobody knows what the leader my to do. our allies, the american people recognizing north korea as a nuclear power -- that could possibly dramatically change the strategy under the alliance. in any case, it was shocking to news for japanese society. a lot of media talked about that. there was atime, lot of americans also supporting japan acquiring nuclear power. that was another big surprise. --dominant supporters dominant supporters were republican, but that caused a lot of uncertainty and concerns amongst japanese society. now, there were new opinions in japan. we could potentially have a serious discussion about whether japan should be acquiring a nuclear

but analysts have long been convinced that north korea is manufacturing it. >> north korea has a long- standing chemical weapons program. they've had this program for a number of decades, it's quite large, it's on a military scale, it was desned for war fighting. north korea's likely the onlytl country currin the world today that has active chemical,n biologicalnuclear weapons programs, and possibly even thet abto deploy all three. that really puts them in a league of their own, in terms of current capabilities. >> big story here, keep an eye on it. north korea firing four onllistic missiles toward the sea of japan earlyy morning. >> tonight, kim jong-un could be one step closer tohreatening america with a nuclear-tipped missile. the ballistic missiles his regime just test-fired... >> narrator: three weeks after the assassination, kim jong-un had another point to make. >> (speaking korean): >> narrator: he began the most intense period of missile testing in north korea's history. (explosions) th in the msince the assassination, kim jong-un has launched more miiles than his father laun

to force the south korean government to limit its and gauge what north korea if north korea offers or freeze but not a lemonade nuclear program for now this gap has not occurred for now the south korean government as even we solve a couple days ago in the vancouver for many. there's conferences and sustain on denuclearization and i think that the u.s. will try and work to keep that alignment we've seen president moon change his campaign rhetoric and to when after when he sued office to take a farmer stance on these issues and so we i think this will continue but there is the danger that it was mentioned about the north trying to you maneuver to split the allies in order to attain its long term objectives of weakening and undermining the u.s. korean alliance reunifying korea under its control and threatening other countries without retaliation and so on and the nuclear missile the nuclear weapons that south of north korea's pursuing is precisely part of that campaign. is there a feeling there in korea that the the u.s. could no longer be fully trusted trumps belligerents korea as well

after he consolidated power in north korea. theolled north korea until early 90's, at which point his son kim jong-il took over and then with his death i believe in -- with his death in the early teens, kim jong-un, his grandson, took over. when you're watching news reports and other ways you get information on kim jong-un, how do you see his leadership style comparing with his predecessors, the father and grandfather? >> it is a bit hard to tell. it is still a bit early. to credit a lot of the news reports that come out of north korea. it is opaque, what goes on. there are tales of extreme violence which may or may not be true. it is true that he has definitely purged some of the holdover leadership from his father's regime, including his uncle. that his stylely of leadership is going to end up and results that are all that different from what his father and grandfather pursued. should the american public know about the everyday koreans life and how it has changed in the years since the conflict? >> it is important understand

yes of course because the us is constantly menacing north korea constantly threatening north korea carrying out war exercises that simulate the destruction of north korea a country that was destroyed by the united states between one thousand nine hundred fifty three forty five million koreans died there wasn't one structure taller than one story still standing as a consequence of u.s. bombers in the main complaint of american pilots was there was nothing left to bomb in that war so what the u.s. annihilated north korea here we have donald trump saying he's promising to do the same from the from the podium of the u.n. just a couple months ago and now trump reflecting i think not just as own personal position but that of the military industrial complex in america fears that peace may be breaking out in the korean peninsula between the two koreans between the two koreas and of course south korea has limited sovereignty because u.s. troops thirty thousand of them are still there so we see an unprecedented break away from the south korean government trying to assert sovereignty and say to this t

and south korea the north korea i should say on the u.s. over donald trump claiming his aggressive attitude towards pyongyang is exactly what made the diplomatic. totally and that's called the military action the nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined. little rocket man is a sick puppy. a lot of people have said a lot of people that without my rhetoric and without my tough stance and said just a stance i mean this is this is what has to be done if it has to be done. that they would be talking about olympics that they would. fight live now to talk to us some are in china member of the korea peace network a good morning to you thanks for joining us here on r.t. international both the north and south expressing optimism do you expect any breakthrough at these talks. i do expect a major breakthrough from these talks as you can state this is a truly historic moment and that this is the probably the best news in the new year and also as a north korean the head of north korean delegation said it's going to be th

korea money such as its north korean restaurants or companies that are trading in north korea but the suspicion is always that individuals and companies are simply changing their names or changing management structures as a way of getting around the sanctions. now the u.s. president dog trump is marking one year in office in a few days so i looking into how his administrator has failed so far one of its biggest foreign policy challenges has been north korea and the second of our five part series kathy novak was from seoul. it was a year that saw the leaders of the united states and north korea exchanging threats of nuclear war and some rather undignified insults donald trump called the north korean leader little rocket man kim jong un dubbed the u.s. president a mentally deranged dotard they boasted about their nuclear buttons. the u.s. mainland is within the range of a nuclear strike and as you can hear bolton is put on the desk in my office at all times and sparked fears the korean peninsula could be edging closer to war they will be met with fire and fury. like the world has never

north korea. it is very opaque what goes on. there's a lot of tales of extreme violence which may or may not be true. is true that he has definitely purged some of the holdover leadership from his father's regime, including his uncle. it is seen as unlikely that his style of leadership is going to end up in results that were all that different from what his father and grandfather pursued. >> what should the american public know about the everyday korean life? how it has changed since the conflict. >> it's important to understand ves veryh koreans' li chairman asleep based on what class they are part of. vary dramatically based on what class they are part of. there's the high-level bureaucrats in the west. these people do not go hungry. they live in buildings with heat. then, there's millions of other north koreans that live in the countryside in immense deprivation. it is a daily struggle. there was a time when north koreans were starving by the hundreds of thousands. knew this was a way to mainta

north korea goes through phases of apparent dialogue and provocations but either way north korea is continuing its nuclear and missile development we have no intention of weakening our warning and surveillance. it is new year's day speech said north korea would meditate its nuclear weapons program and even called for the mass production and deployment of nuclear warheads and this house. from the conservative perspective in north korea trying to buy time the majority seems to believe the north korea is trying to finalize its technical development to to achieve operational i.c.b.m. so you know us the cia has announced before they are talking about two or three month time in terms of finalizing the i.c.b.m. system and it looks like this is a perfect action on their side you know to buy time. last year north korea test fired three intercontinental ballistic missiles or i.c.b.m.'s including one that it's capable of reaching the u.s. mainland many hope the upcoming talks really the best option for now of deescalate the crisis on the korean it's. largely al-jazeera so. there have been some diplomatic

korea, we can make a change in north korea. but up until now, those contents of south korea which north korean people are watching are those which are produced for a south korean audience, not north koreans. they just watch it for their amusement and entertainment. but, those contents so far do not actually relate to the north korean citizens' way of thinking. those cultural contents cannot make them critically analyze the life of north korea. that is why we should make tailor-made content, which can educate north korean population. i think it is time we should invest to make that kind of very simple content which can compel -- can tell the basic concepts of freedom, human rights, and democracy. rep. engel: thank you very much. to mr. chrise go smith of new jersey. rep. smith: thank you for your courage and for being here. for providing your insights and observations. i remember during the cold war, it used to be said that the iron curtain is not soundproof. your idea of ratcheting up the freedom broadcasting could not come at

less of a hard line approach on north korea it could also be a ploy to buy north korea more time while it advances its nuclear weapons technology and as a tactic to gain a supporter in the outside while because this olive branch is only being offered to south korea and not to the u.s. listen to what else kim jong un had to say. god is from that the u.s. mainland is within the range of our nuclear strike and the nuclear button is put on the desk in my office at all times they should clearly understand that this is never a trash sort of reality so florence what can we read into all of this i mean can we expect more nuclear and missile tests and twenty eight. well the certainly no indication that the war of words with the u.s. is going to stop there's also no indication that north korea is going to give up its nuclear ambitions any time soon despite sanctions tighten sanctions being imposed on it last year though in fact quite the opposite north korea is now even saying that it's going to mass produce and deploy nuclear warheads and missiles not only that kim jong reiterated that north ko

north korea really is kathy novak al-jazeera soul. and on thursday we'll be looking at the sexual misconduct allegations that are pretty much adult president trump since the election campaign. and on saturday we'll have a one hour special seventeen hours greenwich mean time looking back at trump's first year in office and what we can expect for his second year the japanese public broadcasters issued false t.v. and mobile phone alarms about a north korean missile launch the alert said north korea appeared to have launched a missile and that the government was urging people to take shelter inside buildings or underground is still unknown how the force of the happened but it was corrected within minutes three days earlier a similar mistake calls panic in hawaii the world health organization has warned the diptheria outbreak in yemen is spreading quickly almost seven hundred people have now been affected forty eight people have died from the disease in the past four months it been hard data of the worst hit of the nineteen affected region

improvise ation exists in north korea. by the way the red panel in the building says vegetables for the population of the capital. regardless of all the propaganda and the i'd call it brainwashing the koreans always manage to surprise me positively it's always important to focus on the details jewing these human encounters even though they're always organized and managed such meetings have an impact on the people here i think it's the only way to separate people from the propaganda. of. the capital with a population of more than three million is currently undergoing a construction boom new skyscrapers a shooting up all over the place shaping the city's skyline. if you look closely you can see that south korean brand names have been covered by north korean banas like i say you just have to pay attention to the details i'm wondering when north korea suddenly got all the money for these gigantic construction projects almost eighty percent of pyongyang was destroyed in the korean war over the course of three years the united s

north korea, there has been a lot to welcome. the tougher approach towards china has resulted in some big significant shifts in the way china reacts to north korea, sanctions have been suffered. that is partly in response to increased aggression from north korea in terms of testing. but the real problem is that essentially donald trump's actions are coming too late in the game. north korea essentially already has nuclear capabilities. it has show in it is is not fully on the way to getting icbm capability, it is almost there. the real challenge for donald trump is that there does not seem to be a route to walk north korea back from this situation. what we are likely to end up situation. what we are likely to end up with is a us accommodation of a nuclear north korea, rather than them abandoning the programme entirely. you mention china there. in terms of the relationship between the us and china now, donald trump on the campaign trail talked a lot about how powerful china is in terms of trade. how was he now implementing his camp

lies with north korea. only by abandoning its current path can north korea achieve the stability it desires and a prosperous future for its people. on behalf of the united states i look forward to sharing ideas today with our allies and partners to strengthen the max much pressure campaign and provide a pathway to security for all of our people as a result. thank you. >> thank you very much. thank you for bringing visual aids even. we really appreciate that. thank you very much for co-hosting this and all the work you're doing. next, we're going to hear from minister taro kono of japan. japan is very directly implicated. we're honored that you're here with us today. >> madame chairperson, mr. chairperson, honorable ministers, distinguished delegates. let me begin by expressing my a once again to foreign minister freeland and secretary tillerson for their untiring efforts to gather all of us at today's meeting. i am also grateful for their generosity to allow me to speak following their remarks. as we have a

and north korea. yes, he is running three his domestic economic policies. but there is a lot of international interest in his press conference this morning because everybody expects to hear his view on the talks which took basis of a. historic talks, the first time a north korean and south korean governments sat down face—to—face for two years. i think yesterday he will have breathed a sigh of relief and he will be pleased to be making the speech this morning, because he has long said these 0lympic the speech this morning, because he has long said these olympic games could ea vessel of peace. —— be a vessel. you heard in rupert was mac report that tensions have been running at their highest point for a number of decades, at the end of 2017. -- number of decades, at the end of 2017. —— rupert's report. so there has been a significant shift, but we will wait to see what happens next. he will be very pleased that pyongyang will be sending a full delegation to the olympics. that will make lots

north korea's hoping that the u.s. will be more occupied with defending seattle and not focusing as much on its ally thus causing a split on the korean peninsula. the waters news agency says it seen documents showing pakistan is planning to seize control of charities and assets linked to half is signed and on designated a terrorist by many countries co-founded the group lashkar e tayyiba which the u.s. and india blamed for the two thousand and eight mumbai attacks that killed one hundred sixty six people he didn't raise any involvement on the pakistani court last year found there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. and pakistan's government is increasing fuel prices blaming the state of the international market it's a move that's expected to particularly affect the poor and the scum a high the report say could lead to bigger problems for the country's economy. the people at large are already calling it a new game from the government of pakistan to its people and it's making headlines across the country and eleven po

these things just doesn't happen in north korea. that is why it has lasted for this long, i think, because in spite of a lot of its problems, economic problems, human rights, food problems, it has lasted this long. that is because no one within the system is capable of changing it. mr. snyder: there are potential forces for change going on inside north korea. when you talk about marketization information flows. it is maybe post-totalitarian, but we are obviously not at a place where there is organized opposition. how long do you think it will take for us to see the evolution of politics in north korea where it is possible for dissent to be discussed? mr. cha: it is a good question. as political scientists, we are supposed to be able to determine when these things are supposed to happen, when you reach a critical tipping point, but i don't think we can. i don't think we can say with any degree of accuracy what the tipping point in terms of when society is ready to act up rather than simply be -- follow the rules of the current politi

north korea itself the. pressure. and the specter of russian. a number of influential us democrats. to run. and what goes up must come. twenty four hours. just wednesday morning here in moscow you're watching international from all of us here a very warm welcome to. south and north korean officials meeting for the third time in the space of just a few days to further discuss peace efforts now that includes the potential participation of the two countries under a unified flag of the upcoming olympics meanwhile western allies of the nineteen fifties korean war. talks on the current crisis with a seemingly different approach. it is not the time to ease pressure or to rework no it's career the pressure campaign will continue until north korea takes decisive steps to do nuclearize i think that could be not is to send out a very clear message that we want to intensify that pressure disco that included cutting off diplomatic ties to his north korea. artie's what i've got there now joining me live mr deer more details on this i'm about as far as i understand the meeting now has wrapped up w

path to peace with north korea. north korea says nuclear disarmament is not up orders russian. —— is not up is not up orders russian. —— is not upfor is not up orders russian. —— is not up for discussion. at least 13 people have died in floods and mudslides following a ferocious storm in southern california. rescue workers in santa barbara county near los angeles said the bodies had been discovered in the debris brought down by the storm. witnesses say floodwaters washed away cars, rubbish bins and telephone poles. donald trump's former chief strategist steve bannon has stepped down as head of the far—right website breitbart. he's been heavily criticised by mr trump and faced a backlash from supporters since the book fire and fury quoted him accusing the president's son and son—in—law of treason. now on bbc news, tuesday in parliament.

there's never been a program about north korea the food north korea was only ever seen through the news which kept talking about nuclear issues the north korean army how poor north korea that was it for the first time now my way to meet you showed the real story of how north korean people live the culture they want to occur know whatever. it has helped break down prejudices i think the program prepares us for unification though maybe one day but. it was the beginning of a trend south korean channels eager to find a different lens through which to present north korea could finally break away from the usual portrayal so funny and human rights abuses. and adds an element of entertainment. the question of whether they break down prejudices or even for some is difficult in fact the matter is they mostly do both simple tenuously they certainly seek to convey information about north korea there's a very famous song a young boy appears on north korean t.v. singing this. song and then one of the panelists on one of these shows will sing the song in a way that mimics that north korean boy singing

north korea was very much isolated recently but what they. really want to do is they want to talk to the yes they want the u.s. to accept them officially as a nuclear power and they want the u.s. to reassure them not threatening their regime survival that's why they're now in south korea and that's the the end game if you will and carsten we know that's their end game do we know what washington's endgame is if we're hearing from north korea that the nuclear program will never be up for discussion as a set of voices here who say this problem has to be taken care off we were not except north korea as a nuclear power and if they won't accept that that could ultimately mean military action of course everybody knows what that means that would be not just a commando operation that could trigger a major of war on the korean peninsula and of course that is worrying everyone here so we're not quite sure we just know that this administration has made it clear it will not just wait and see. more or less accepts without would be acknowledging it that nor

that north korea is now a nuclear power now he's made this claim before in november when north korea tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile and he said it again he's also called for the mass production of nuclear warheads and deployment of such warheads and missiles now there was no specific mention of any tests or any specific or of any other specific goal and lives were really closely watching the speech as well to see whether kim jong un would mention an atmospheric nuclear tests a test that was hinted at by his foreign minister last september the weapons experts believe that north korea has the capability to strike anywhere on the u.s. mainland using an intercontinental ballistic missile but they don't yet believe that north korea has the technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and mounted on in the south that can we enter earth's atmosphere intact but to find out whether he really has the technology to do so he would have to conduct such a test there was no mention of that but there was a specific mention or a reiteration that north korea is now a nuclea

south korea's presidential office has always stated our willingness to talk with north korea anytime and anywhere if that would help restore into korean relations and lead to peace on the korean peninsula. but that is still a distant goal north korea's leader peppered his speech with threats against the u.s. state t.v. superimposed pictures over parts of his speech kim said the united states will never be able to start war against me or al country but. the entire u.s. sees within range of our nuclear weapons and a nuclear boxen is always on my days. north korea's ballistic missile tests have been a source of concern for the u.s. and the rest of the international community about the prospects of north korea joining in the upcoming winter olympics does offer some hope for people on both sides of the korean peninsula. let's go now to aden foster carter he's an honorary senior research fellow in modern korea at leeds university he joins us now from exit or aden happy new year to you but the question now is it a new kim jong un in his speech sounded like a stick for dollar trump but a car

that led to south korea extending an invitation to north korea to actually speak. it's been set for january 9th. of course there's still some staff work that has to happen before that actually occurs. but it's looking promising that there will be discussion between north korea and south korea. they have already also opened up this line of communication that has been closed several years now. it's just a telephone. but i don't think most people realize when north korea and south korea communicate back and

of action with north korea. how do you see the difference? mr. cha: it is a tough question to answer. without recounting the whole history of why the bush administration went into iraq, that was not my area of responsibility. so i am not really capable of commenting on that. but i think in the case of north korea, i think there are two issues. the puzzle is why iraq -- not why iraq instead of north korea, but if in iraq, then why not also in north korea? i think there are two answers. the first is that you have china, right? china sits right on the border with north korea. the last thing the united states or china wants is some sort of confrontation or conflagration on the peninsula that would cause the two to butt heads. -- heads as they did in 1953. i think anytime there is serious thought given to some sort of military action, this is constantly at the top -- not even at the top, but even halfway up the escalation ladder, this is constantly a concern that every u.s. president has had to think about seriously.

they use north korea to threat. if they ever launched with north korea. we would have to launch and north korea would stand by and tell us one actually china is very involved. china just uses that. look at venezuela. we are looking at north korea, and china is literally taking over venezuela. they actually control their oil for, what, the next 20 years? and all of this artificial news about we are on a brink of war with north korea, it is just part of the deception policy. thank you very much. host: go ahead with your reaction. guest: sure. i agree that the exercises should go on. what theyproposed called a freeze, in which the united states would freeze military exercises, and north korea would freeze military testing. we see military exercises very important to military readiness and to maintain deterrence against a north korean threat. , was, as everybody knows very much involved in the korean war in the 1950's. china is concerned about instability in north korea. china is concerned that north korea may start a war. and china is also concerned that the

the third is the dispute with north korea. things tend to not get done in an election year so the president is focused on foreign affairs. >> thank you to our panel. >>> ahead, breaking news on the trump/russia dossier and the trump insider who was apparently working with the fbi. and the president's lawyers talked with the special counsel team. what did they learn? we'll be back. [ gasps, laughs ] you ever feel like... cliché foil characters scheming against a top insurer for no reason? nah. so, why don't we like flo? she has the name your price tool, and we want it. but why? why don't we actually do any work? why do you only own one suit? it's just the way it is, underdeveloped office character. you're right. thanks, bill. no, you're bill. i'm tom. you know what? no one cares. or a little internet machine? it makes you wonder: shouldn't we get our phones and internet from the same company? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data.

and north korea. this was recorded at the american historical association's annual meeting in washington dc. >> david fields is a historian. who specializes in a very timely field of u.s. and korea relations. things the most important for anyone worrying about the state of things should know about korea and u.s. korea relations? >> i think the most important thing to understand is that the division of korea was originally a u.s. idea. this idea was never supposed to be permanent. was, they would have a joint occupation between the united states and soviet union which would result in a unified state. the division became permanent, and it is no doubt whose idea it was originally. the reason this matters so much as the koreans have never seen themselves as one people, one race. they would very much like to be reunified. especially the older generation of koreans who still have families in the north and who have not spoken for decades. this matters because in many ways, koreans hold the u.s. responsible f

discord to include cutting off diplomatic ties to his north korea solid meeting of north korea's former enemies literally almost all of these countries were participants off the korean war on the side of south korea states such as luxembourg colombia greece belgium difficult to imagine what relevance they have to the korean crisis these days but there you go noticeably absent with two countries that are actually relevant to the crisis apart from north korea itself the two countries that actually share a border with the north china and russia. russia and china were not invited to this meeting so they just said the meeting will take place on the sixteenth of january you can come in the evening we will tell you what we have agreed on this was unacceptable what the state department said about russia supporting this meeting that's a complete lie we consider this meeting harmful to. the most important parties involved in the korean peninsula nuclear issue aren't taking part in the meeting but we don't know what the goal of this meeting is so i don't think this meeting is legal or representati

if north korea does have talks, and south korea does have talks with north korea, are they effectively trying to put a wedge between the u.s. and not only south korea and china? >> it certainly seems that way. i mean what kim did was actually clever in a sense. he essentially threatened nuclear war with the united states while simultaneously offering an olive branch to our al aye, south korea. the question is, what does south korea do in this situation? remember, the united states said as a precondition for reopening diplomatic relations which haven't been on the table for the last years, north korea had to meet certain preconditions which according to the u.s. they have not met. so does the united states say you know what, we are happy that tensions may be easing between north korea and south korea, let it go forward? or does the united states get fixated as donald trump in particular who likes tough talk and things like that, does he get fixated on the idea that no we hold firm and we are going to dictate the terms under which anybody does come back to the table? so yes it does seem

policy on north korea. do they have to give up before committing to talks. >> the policy is complete verifiable agreeable news. that is a policy that is commonly held by everyone in the region as well. the chinese have that stated policy and russia has that policy. recently all of the countries in the area. clearly that's going to take time. that is yet to be determined, but we clearly need a signal from north korea that these talks must lead to that conclusion. the path wail is the nature of the negotiation. that objective never changed. >> it's unrealistic to sit down and say we are ready to do it. it sounds like they have to show some willingness, but then the mechanics of that -- >> we have to have a shared view that that is the reason to talk. it is through those talks that they can chart the way for themselves for a more secure future and more prosperous future for the people as well. there will be positive outcomes for the security for the region. that's the nature of the negotiations. >> do you thin

of rising tension over north korea's nuclear program. delegations met at the demilitarized zone today with positive results. north korea says it will send a delegation to the winter the picks in south korea with analysts saying sports diplomacy could open more international relations. north korea says it will reopen its hotline with the south. >> despite the frosty relations, people expressed views for the interpretive method off koreanan ties. >> there is a saying in our country, the job is done paired ties have been severed for a long time. i would like to take part in the meetings with tenacity and perseverance. genie: let's go to bruce harrison who is in seoul. tell us what concretely came out of this meeting today. out,: what concretely came we will note shortly. the two sides have wrapped up the day and will issue a joint statement shortly about the talks at the dmz. they met at the peace housethe t statement shortly in the border between the two koreas. information trickled out as the day went along. north korea said it accepted a

we didn't relationship with south korea that is to say that the north korea misses the days and south korea used to give it assistance and aid and subsidies and stuff like that it was known as the sunshine policy which was continue which was begun under previous liberal presidents and the stop open north korea the current liberal president of south korea bring that back so i think the north koreans are entirely content to have the relationship they have with the united states right now the nukes in the tension and all that obviously with donald trump that's not going to change and they'd like to find a way than to go along with some of the other players the north has done this for a long time sort of playing one off the other off the other right and so if you will the americans are giving you a hard time to go to the south and i don't really see any change what we see in two thousand and seventeen i am genuinely concerned right i mean the more the north koreans build the more missiles the more nuclear weapons they have the more tests they do and stuff like that the more sites they hav

and politics inside north korea is a blood sport. it is not something for the weak of heart. >> narrator: within months of assuming power he begabrutal purge of senior officials-- leanyone who might have ched him. the second most powerful man in north korea was kim's uncle jang song-thaek. in december 2013, was executed. kim jong-nam was another threat to the new lear's legitimacy. g he hone public with his criticism of the sucssion. >> (speaking japanese): >> narrator: between 2010 and 2012, kim jong-namxchanged almost 150 emails with japanese journalist yoji gomi. in them he criticized the decision to transfer power to a third generation of the kim family. and he suggested that the new leader lacked experience and would end up aa "mere figurehead." he also criticized how the country was being run.ki jong-nam's experience of living in china had persuaded him that north korea should open up and introduce chinese-stylefo s. >> (speaking japanese): >> (speaking japanese): >> narrator: less than a month after kim jong-un came to power,

sanctions north korea has been forced to be self-sufficient no.

thank you for joining us north and south korea have been holding their first official meeting in more than two years with a few diplomatic breakthrough as pyongyang says it will send a high level delegation to next month's winter olympics in the south senior officials from both sides met at the de-militarized zone in on with john on the border tension has increased since the last round of talks in twenty fifteen with north korea rapidly. accelerating its nuclear and missile programs well here's what's come out of the meeting as we mentioned athletes and supporters from north korea are going to what's being hailed as the peace takes chon seoul is considering temporarily lifting sanctions against north korea and has proposed military talks and every union of fountains of families that were sprayed after the creation of north and south korea one thousand nine hundred forty five and the war that followed now both sighs expressed optimism ahead of the talks. we came to this meeting today with a serious and sincere attitude and with the thought of giving our brother and who have high hopes

korea -- how north korea terms of this? obviously, there is no real -- there's no u.s. representation inside north korea. they view us probably through a very different lens than other countries view us or that, you know, we may not understand the lens that they view us through. what do -- how do you think they interpret this? >> yeah, i think they believe this elevates kim jong-un because he's involved in a conversation that everyone can listen to with the president of the united states. now, it's a silly conversation, it's juvenile, infantile, all the rest of it, but nonetheless, it is two guys standing next to each other, and so the north koreans view that as really great. it does -- >> sounds like kim jong-un is on the same level -- >> on the same level as president trump, and clearly that should never be the case. we should never allow that to happen. and it wouldn't happen if our president wouldn't tweet out something like this. >> and congressman, as someone who's on the intelligence committee, you know, the u.s. pol

the president's tweet on north korea bears repeating. "north korean leader kim jong-un just stated the nuclear button is on his desk at all times. will someone from his regime please inform him that i, too, have a nuclear button but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his and my button works," exclamation point. general clapper, beyond the colorful language in the tweet here, is the president of the united states making a nuclear threat to north korea? >> i think he is. and i just think it's very disturbing. in one sense it would be amusing if it weren't for the gravity of the subject. when we're casually back and forth, by whatever means, kind of dueling banjo, who has the biggest male appendage, it's almost a manhood thing, when there are potentially millions of lives at stake, an untold death and destruction here. and to me it's very disturbing. the figure that kim jong-un uses, he has a button on his desk. i take that not literally. but the problem is that by whatever means that he calls out his strategic forces to launch

north korea is watching us in iran. the iranians are watching the way he engages with north korea and vice versa, so we've got a chance here to deliver some fatal blows to really bad actors in 2018. but if we blink, god help us all. >> the he in that is the president. the we've seen the president tweeting about north korea. we've seen him tweeting about iran. in terms of foreign policy, his strategy here, what do we know? what challenges confront him? >> well immediately what we're seeing specifically on iran is that president trump is really -- while he's -- his foreign policy is still emerging comparing to president obama's realism. where as he was mostly silent, president trump has been very vocal. obama was slow to condemn human rights abuse trump has been very vocal. president trump has inserted us into that conflict ongoing. le so, i would expect going forward president trump should deal with the exact inverse of everything obama did in 2009. >> lindsey graham added you can't just tweet here. you have to lay out a