Christmas Day came and went without North Korea's 'gift' threat being realized

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un promised a "Christmas gift" if the communist country had not reached a nuclear weapons deal with the United States before the holiday. Now it appears that the threat was an empty one, at least if it was supposed to coincide with Christmas Day.

Toward the beginning of December and amid a stall in talks between the two countries, North Korea threatened Washington, D.C., with a "Christmas gift" if talks didn't yield some kind of agreement by year's end.

"The dialogue touted by the U.S. is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.," North Korean official Ri Thae Song said in a statement at the time. "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."

Last week, The Associated Press reported that the United States was keeping a close watch on North Korean missile activity in relation to the threat.

Over the Christmas holiday, the United States reportedly sent four spy planes over and around the Korean peninsula.

On Tuesday, President Trump joked that, instead of a missile test, the "gift" might be something else.

"Maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. Right?" the president told reporters. "I may get a vase, I may get a nice present from him, you don't know. You never know."

Yet, Christmas came and went in both the United States and North Korea without an announcement or reports of a intercontinental ballistic missile test or anything of the story, CBS News notes, even though the year-end deadline has not been reached.