NOBLES: So, it turns out North Korea did not follow through on its promised Christmas gift to the United States, but Kim Jong-un is ringing in the New Year with new threats. Kim said Tuesday he no longer feels bound by a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long- range missile testing and that he would witness a new strategic weapon in the, quote, near future. President Trump continues to emphasize his personal relationship with Kim, despite the threats. CNN's Will Ripley is in Hong Kong with the latest -- Will.</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When you think about where we were at this time last year when there was so much optimism, so much hope about the prospect of diplomacy and then the Hanoi summit fell apart and, well, we know what's happened since. There has been escalating rhetoric for months between the U.S. and North Korea. North Korea has been testing short-range weapons. So, this announcement doesn't really come as a big surprise. We've known that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been likely preparing for a major shift in policy. And that's what North Korean state media announced. They said because the United States hasn't moved on the issue that's most important to them, sanctions, they no longer feel obligated to abide by the issue most important to the United States which is North Korea's self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long- range missile tests. In fact, North Korea saying they're going to bolster their nuclear defense, basically reversing course entirely because, remember, the whole reason why the United States and North Korea decided to sit down, why President Trump --
Kim Jong Un: North Korea Free to Resume Nuclear Testing.