Nukes at the ready

Kim warns missiles can now hit anywhere on US mainland

NORTH Korea has “completed” its nuclear forces and can hit anywhere on the US mainland, its leader Kim Jong-un said yesterday in his New Year’s address.

“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,” Mr Kim stated.

He added: “The US should know that the button for nuclear weapons is on my table.”

Mr Kim, wearing a Western-style grey suit and tie, also called for improved relations with the South and wished them success for the Winter Olympics set to begin in February.

He said the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics would be a good opportunity to showcase the status of the Korean nation, adding the North and South could meet to discuss the North sending a delegation.

“The Winter Olympic Games that will be held soon in the South will be a good opportunity to display the status of the Korean nation and we sincerely wish that the event will be held with good results,” he said.

The New Year’s address is an annual event in the North and is watched closely for indications of the direction and priorities Mr Kim may adopt in the year ahead.

This year’s speech was seen as important because of the high tensions over Pyongyang’s frequent missile launches and its nuclear test in 2017.

It comes as a former US military officer said the US is now closer than it has ever been to a nuclear war with North Korea.

Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, attributed the rising danger to Donald Trump’s “incredibly disruptive” presidency.

“And in my view, an incredibly dangerous climate exists out there in that uncertainty with how this all ends up,” he said on ABC’s This Week.