Kim Jong-un says ‘nuclear button is on my desk’, as he announces plan to mass produce and deploy warheads
But Kim also sugared his speech with a conciliatory tone towards Seoul, saying the North was considering taking part in the South’s Winter Olympics
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Monday that the United States should be aware that his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. But he also struck a conciliatory tone in his New Year’s address, wishing success for the Winter Olympics set to begin in South Korea in February and suggesting the North may send a delegation to participate.
Kim, wearing a Western-style grey suit and tie, said in his customary annual address that his country had achieved the historic feat of “completing” its nuclear forces and added that he has a nuclear button on his desk.
“We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles and speed up their deployment,” said Kim, insisting the weapons programme was a defensive measure. “We should always keep readiness to take immediate nuclear counter-attacks against the enemy’s scheme for a nuclear war.
“The US should know that the button for nuclear weapons is on my table. The entire area of the US mainland is within our nuclear strike range … The United States can never start a war against me and our country.”
Pyongyang dramatically ramped up its efforts to become a nuclear power in 2017, despite a raft of international sanctions and increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the United States.