DPRK to top Trump's 2018 agenda

ROK offers dialogue

The following day, Seoul offered to hold a dialogue on Jan 9 with Pyongyang at the Peace House in the truce village of Panmunjom, which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

However, skeptics said that the Sunshine Policy of a decade ago, which promoted warmer relations between the two neighbors, failed to halt Pyongyang's nuclear progress.

In the same speech, Kim threatened that the DPRK is capable of striking the US with nuclear weapons at any moment.

Despite Pyongyang's willingness to talk to its southern neighbor, experts said the DPRK will not be letting go of its nuclear weapons program anytime soon.

"Though we cannot rule out a preventive strike against North Korea entirely, the threat of a messy war in East Asia that shoves the world back into economic recession is a steep price to pay," said Rodger Baker, vice-president of strategic analysis at Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence group.

Last year saw tense relations between Trump and Kim, with the two leaders exchanging barbs, insults and threats. Analysts expect this year to be no different, adding that 2018 may be a decisive year regarding tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

But analysts are cautioning the two leaders to cool their anger toward each other, so that their bluster does not lead down a dangerous path of no return.

Xinhua