By toning down the brinkmanship over South Korea this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be attempting to see if the Seoul can convince the United States to ease sanctions on his reclusive state. Nah Liang Tuang, a Research Fellow at RSIS in Singapore, viewed the obscure stances of the two Kims toward South Korea as part of the brinksmanship tactics that form “cycles of coercion with the ultimate aim being regime security. “Thus, the proverbial ball is in the US’ court,” Nah said, adding, “It has to agree to the limited denuclearisation for sanctions lifting package desired by Kim.”