Kim Jong Un risks losing 'everything' after North Korea claims major test: Trump

USPresident DonaldTrumpsaid on Sunday thatNorthKorean leaderKimJongUnriskslosing"everything" if he resumes hostility and his country must denuclearize,aftertheNorthsaid it had carried out a "successfultestof great significance."

"KimJongUnis too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore,"Trumpsaid on Twitter, referring to his first summit withKimin Singapore in 2018.

"He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of theUnited States or interfere with the USPresidential Election in November," he said.

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NorthKorea's state media KCNA reported earlier on Sunday that it had carried out a "very important"testat its Sohae satellite launch site, a rocket-testing ground that USofficials once saidNorthKoreahad promised to close.

The reportedtestcomes ahead of a year-end deadlineNorthKoreahas imposed for theUnited States to drop its insistence onunilateral denuclearization. Pyongyang has warned it could take a "new path" amid the stalled talks with theUnited States.

"NorthKorea,under the leadership ofKimJongUn, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearize as promised,"Trumpsaid on Twitter.

The KCNA report called it a "successfultestof great significance" but did not specify what wastested.

Missile experts said it appeared likely theNorthKoreans had conducted a statictestof a rocket engine, rather than a missile launch.

"If it is indeed a static enginetestfor a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming, if it isn’t already," said Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in theUnited States.

"This could be a very credible signal of what might await the worldafterthe New Year."

Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set byNorthKorea, which has called on theUnited States to change its policy of insisting on Pyongyang'sunilateral denuclearization and demanded relief from punishing sanctions.

On SaturdayNorthKorea's ambassador to theUnited Nations said denuclearization was now off the negotiating table with theUnited States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed.

"The results of the recent importanttestwill have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future," KCNA reported, using the initials ofNorthKorea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic ofKorea.

Asked in a CBS "Face the Nation" interview ifNorthKoreamight be preparing to resume nucleartests, USNational Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said that "would be a mistake on the part ofNorthKorea."

Pyongyang's last nucleartest, its sixth and most powerful, took place in September 2017.

"It doesn't end well for them if they do.. IfNorthKoreatakes a different path than the one it's promised... we've got plenty of tools in the toolkit," O'Brien said on Sunday.

Recent days have also seen a return to the highly charged rhetoric that raised fears of war two years ago.

In 2017,TrumpandKimfamously engaged in a war of words, withTrumpcallingKim"Rocket Man" andNorthKoreacallingTrump, now 73, a "dotard."

On Tuesday,Trumponce again calledKim"Rocket Man" and said theUnited States reserved the right to use military force againstNorthKorea. Pyongyang, in response, said any repeat of such language would represent "the relapse of the dotage of a dotard."

Thetestis the latestin a string of statements and actions fromNorthKoreadesigned tounderscore the seriousness of its year-end deadline.

NorthKoreahas announced it would convene a rare gathering of top ruling-party officials later this month, and on Wednesday state media showed photos ofKimtaking a second symbolic horse ride on the country's sacred Mt. Paektu.

Such meetings and propaganda blitzes often come ahead ofmajorannouncements fromNorthKorean authorities.

WhileNorthKoreahas not specified what its "new path" could be, observers have suggested the launch of a space satellite is a possibility, allowing Pyongyang to demonstrate andtestits rocket capabilities without resorting to overt military provocation such as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch.

KimDong-yub, a former SouthKorean Navy officer who teaches at KyungnamUniversity in Seoul, saidNorthKoreamay havetested a solid fuel rocket engine, which could allowNorthKoreato field ICBMs that are easier to hide and faster to deploy.

"NorthKoreahas already entered the ‘new path’ that they talked about," he said.

Trumptold reporters in June 2018afterhis first summit withKimthatNorthKoreahad pledged to dismantle one of its missile installations, which USofficials later identified as Sohae.

Shortlyafterthat summit, analysts said satellite imagery showed some key facilities at Sohae being dismantled.

However, in the wake of the second summit betweenTrumpandKimearlier this year, which ended with no agreement, new imagery indicated theNorthKoreans were rebuilding the site.

"Remember this is at the site that was supposedly dismantled as a 'denuclearization step,'" Narang said. "So this is a first step at 'renuclearizing.' Reversible steps are being...reversed."