KIM JONG UN, CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE: Christmas came and went, and he didn’t set off fireworks.

For the moment, North Korean brink-breaching detonations are speculation. Indeed, at the latest North Korean communist party conclave, Kim mouthed tough-guy phrases like taking “positive and offensive measures” that usually signal confrontation with Washington and Seoul.

Yet Trump administration officials suggest that Kim has reconsidered his violent gift-giving. If Kim has had second thoughts, why, prospective condos on the beach and South Korean K-pop girl bands playing Pyongyang gigs definitely have more diplomatic and psychological impact than the wildest optimists imagined.

We will see, but let’s concentrate on what is. Serious, factual events matter, and several verifiable events in December 2019 demonstrate that thoughtful U.S. and allied North Korean denuclearization diplomacy continues, as do efforts to address a global task with which de-nuking North Korea entwines: strategic defense measures to counter enemy ballistic missiles.

The December diplomacy was intricate — and under-reported. So read the entire column.

NEW YEAR’S UPDATE: I wrote the column Monday morning, December 30. Two days later we have 2020 hindsight, so to speak. Now Kim says North Korea is no longer “”unilaterally bound” to its commitment to halt nuclear and inter-continental ballistic missile tests” and will unveil a “new strategic weapon.”