Trump has spoken fondly of the "beautiful letters" Kim wrote to him after their first meeting and, during this year's campaign, said he could rein in the North Korean leader's behavior; the president-elect says Kim "misses" him. Newsweek has reached out to Trump's team and the North Korean embassy in Beijing for comment.

As Trump returns to power, the world is a more complex and dangerous place, and Kim has profited.

South Korea's defense chief Shin Won-sik said the North's latest attempt to launch a spy satellite is in the "final stages"