Article snippet: North Korea's threat to deliver a "Christmas gift" to the U.S. appears to have fizzled, with no reports of military action by Pyongyang as of late Wednesday. A North Korean official earlier this month accused U.S. negotiators of trying to buy time without offering solutions as the two countries struggle to reach a nuclear agreement. The official added that such inaction meant that the U.S. was essentially choosing to receive an unspecified gift from North Korea. “The dialogue touted by the U.S. is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep [North Korea] bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.,” Ri Thae Song said Dec. 3. “What is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get.” As of Wednesday night there were no reports of North Korean missile tests or hostile actions. Pyongyang is 14 hours ahead of Washington, D.C. The Pentagon declined to comment on Wednesday. The U.S. appeared to take North Korea's warning seriously, flying four surveillance planes over the Korean peninsula Wednesday. Just a day earlier, MORE joked that the gift could be “a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test.” “We’ll find out what the surprise is and we’ll deal with it very successfully,” he told reporters Tuesday in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump is spending the holidays at his Mar-A-Lago resort. U.S. talks with North Korea have floundered since Trump walked awa... Link to the full article to read more