There was no point in pushing the rhetoric up to fever pitch if nothing of value was going to be given to the north. There was no food aid or medical shipments on the bargaining table for the North to get.

The atom bomb tests were simply done to reassure the North's regime that it would continue to go without being attacked by the west.

They're still fearing that one day a future George W. Bush would think that North Korea would be another "cakewalk" like Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

In a rigid society with a rigid hierarchy, nobody wants to give Fearless Leader any bad news. I'm sure he's been told his missile capability is a lot better than it actually is.

While they might be able to make something that would travel far enough to hit Japan, that's not the case right now. Longer rage tests have been failures, something I doubt Fearless Leader was told about.

Maybe someone, like the Chinese ambassador, told him the truth.

by the US and South Korea this time around and told KJU to STFU. So now it's economic development, and doubling down on nuclear weapons. Edit to add: something else that provoked China by the US was the very sudden-seeming decision to put in additional missile defense systems in Alaska--blamed on North Korea's threats (but also probably meant to deter China). We're putting pressure on China to do something about its dangerous little dog.

by international agreement 6 years ago.

but it's going to take months for that to happen. My opinion is that there was an implied threat by China that they would intervene before North Korea started something.

Maybe he'll get smart and take President Park up on her offer to meet and talk. Personally I'm not fond of either of them (Park is the daughter of dictator and former President Kim Chug-hee, so they both have that in common).

But its good to see the fiery dialogue subsiding. A war would be catastrophic for everyone.

And then he tries to get something out of it and then we're back to peace.
Kim Jong Un satisfied his military, looked like a tough guy to his people and cemented his rule without actually doing anything.
Good job.

His plan could work... as long South Korea/US propose peace first. What if they say "No way we reduce our troops at the North Korean Border! North Korea declared war on us!" ?

Thank God no war, but this hurts them more than SK.

That's their "face". Which is a little less scary than a big shooting war for now, but only a little.