North Korean propaganda video shows Obama in flames
State media also report scientists behind nuclear test will be rewarded with trip to capital
North Korea has released a new propaganda video showing US soldiers and President Barack Obama burning in the flames of a nuclear blast.
The footage was uploaded on YouTube on Monday, two weeks after a separate video that showed New York city in flames after an apparent missile attack.
Both videos were uploaded by the North’s official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media.
The latest effort came with a series of Korean-language captions, arguing that North Korea had been forced into conducting its latest nuclear test – on February 12 – by US hostility.
“The North’s high-level nuclear test aimed at US invaders, is the nuclear deterrent to safeguard our sovereignty,” one caption read.
“The US practically guided the North towards conducting the nuclear test,” it added.
The video showed images of Obama waving and preparing to deliver his State of the Union address – all superimposed against a background of rising flames.
The US practically guided the North towards conducting the nuclear test
It ended with an animated sequence of a nuclear bomb being detonated in an underground bunker and the message: “The whole world is now watching. The US must answer now.”
The North’s latest test was its biggest yet in terms of explosive yield and, according to Pyongyang, marked a breakthrough in its efforts to develop a “miniaturised” warhead that could fit on a ballistic missile.
State media on Wednesday said the scientists, technicians, workers and officials behind the test will visit the capital as the guests of the ruling Workers’ Party as a reward.
“They will spend significant days in Pyongyang, enjoying the greatest privileges and preferential treatment,” the Korean Central News Agency said, promising a “joyful and delightful time” at the city’s open-air ice rink and roller skating centre.
The group will also visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which holds the embalmed bodies of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung and his son and former leader Kim Jong-il.
North Korea’s third nuclear test was its most powerful to date, with Pyongyang claiming a breakthrough with a “miniaturised” device.
While the outside world was united in condemnation, the test triggered days of orchestrated celebrations and mass rallies in North Korea.
The test followed a widely criticised long-range rocket launch in December, which the UN Security Council saw as a disguised ballistic missile test.
The North’s current leader, Kim Jong-un, awarded state medals and other benefits to the hundreds of scientists who worked on the rocket launch.
