Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

News

North Korea: Shaking Things Up

North Korea: Shaking Things Up
Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksApril 18, 2019
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
See Full Bio

Kim Jong-un wants to remind the world—and Donald Trump in particular—that he remains an unsolved problem.

On Thursday, North Korean state-run media claimed the DPRK's military has test-fired a new type of "tactical guided weapon," its first weapons test in months.

Then the North Korean government insisted that President Trump remove Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from future nuclear negotiations and replace him with someone "more careful and mature in communicating with us." (Kim clearly didn't like Pompeo's infamous "knock-knock" jokes.)

Upshot: Kim probably calculates that his bid to lift US sanctions and attract international investment in exchange for vague promises on "denuclearization" has ground to a halt, and that he has little to lose by shaking things up. But his insistence that the US approach future negotiations with a "new attitude" and his latest bid to bang pots and pans for international attention suggest Mr. Kim still has much to learn about how to draw a positive response from Donald Trump.

Latest Videos

Kim Jong Un's winning nuclear betplay icon
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Kim Jong Un's winning nuclear bet

North Korea's nuclear bet paid off
Ian Explains

North Korea's nuclear bet paid off

Hormuz standoff: Who blinks first?
The Debrief

Hormuz standoff: Who blinks first?

Trump gets a "big, fat" concession from Xi
Puppet Regime

Trump gets a "big, fat" concession from Xi

How AI offsets Trump’s tariffs...for now
GZERO World Clips

How AI offsets Trump’s tariffs...for now

Hungary’s Orbán concedes election defeat
Quick Take

Hungary’s Orbán concedes election defeat

More For You

Can Cuba continue to hold off the US?

Fidel Castro meets with the American parents of the The Bay Of Pigs Prisoners in Havana, Cuba, on March 1, 1963.

Fidel Castro, center left with hands on hips, meets with the American parents of the The Bay Of Pigs Prisoners, who were released after a deal with America for $63 million, in Havana, Cuba, on March 1, 1963.

Keystone Press Agency/Keystone USA via ZUMAPRESS.com
Sixty-five years ago this morning, nearly 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles stormed a beach on the southwestern coast of Cuba. Their aim was to spark a nationwide uprising against the new, revolutionary government of Fidel Castro. The Americans were confident – after all, they’d used a similar approach to overthrow the leftist president of Guatemala [...]

US-Iran ceasefire talks gain steam, Leading leftists meet in Barcelona, The EU may have a new Russia ally

​A crowd celebrates after a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, in Sidon, Lebanon, on April 17, 2026.

A crowd celebrates as displaced people return to their homes after a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, in Sidon, Lebanon, on April 17, 2026.

REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Is an end to the Iran war in sight?The 10-day ceasefire negotiated between Israel and Lebanon took effect last night – one that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah acknowledged but hasn’t said whether they’d abide by – has added some momentum to the US-Iran ceasefire talks. US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the war “should be ending [...]

Hard number: Haiti’s hunger crisis

Hard number: Haiti’s hunger crisis
Natalie Johnson
Five years after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, the turmoil in Haiti – where gangs control large swaths of the country and continue to sow chaos – shows no signs of abating. The consequence is a burgeoning humanitarian crisis, with 1.4 million people displaced, and millions more facing food shortages. Officials fear the Iran war could [...]

Putin makes big gamble, Israel and Lebanon agree to ceasefire, Riyadh reportedly plans to halt funds for golf tour

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 14, 2026.​

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Rosseti CEO and Board Chairman Andrei Ryumin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 14, 2026.

Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS
Putin ups the ante – but should he?Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, killing 17 people in a wave of drone and missile attacks overnight. But the Parliament also signed a law on Tuesday that would allow the military to attack any country that holds Russians captive. Europe fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use this as a pretext to [...]