North Korea appears to be worried about the uncertainty surrounding the lifting of sanctions imposed on it. Kim Jong-un has indicated that another summit with President Donald Trump can happen only if there are positive indications from the American side. The North Korean leader says his country must get concessions on a nuclear arms deal. That could pave the road for a fresh summit. The first summit was in Singapore in June 2018. It was an occasion for the two leaders to test the waters. Then came the second one in Hanoi on February 27–28, 2019.

It held promises but was a non-starter, for whatever reasons. Subsequently, they met briefly at the DMZ on June 30, 2019.

Daily Mail UK says Kim Jong-un recently visited a remote army post consisting of women. It was a unit of the Korean People's Army on the southwestern coast. The women sported identical haircuts and were in matching uniforms. They gathered around the leader for a photo session. Another location he visited was Changrin Islet, a defense detachment. This is on the western front. His visit must have boosted the morale of the soldiers.

Trump dropped hints of another summit

The United States had plans for a joint military exercise with South Korea.

However, the Americans put it on hold in the interest of diplomacy with North Korea. Simultaneously, Donald Trump urged Kim Jong-un to “act quickly, get the deal done.” He even tweeted on Sunday “See you soon!”. It could be interpreted as another possible summit. However, the response was unexpected because North Korea said its priority was to first get some sort of relief from sanctions.

Daily Mail UK says the stand of Pyongyang is clear. It is not interested in another summit and says it would be “useless” unless Washington comes up with fresh offers on nuclear sanctions relief.

It is a tricky issue. Ever since the first summit, Kim Jong-un has exercised restraint in his nuclear programs. There is an obvious conflict of interests even though the two leaders have developed a good relationship. Trump’s emphasis is on denuclearization while Kim’s is on sanction relied on.

Kim wants his army to be ever ready

According to NK News, Kim Jong-un visited two frontline units of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) and passed on a message asking them to be ready for action at all times. He wants them to conduct a “real war-like drill.” He also ordered the KPA chief of staff to take necessary measures to increase the fighting efficiency of the detachment. If the required steps can be taken to change its combat mission.

The intention of Kim is to create operational units that will be in a position to undertake any combat mission at short notice. These visits are his first to advanced military posts since May. At that time, he had covered activities of the KPA units on the western front.
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