Kim says ‘no’ to smokes but ‘yes’ to every drink offer
SEOUL: North Korean leader and known heavy smoker Kim Jong Un refrained from lighting up during a summit with the South's President Moon Jaein, but enthusiastically accepted every offer of a drink.
Kim has often been seen with a cigarette dangling from his fingers -- riding a subway train, visiting hospitals or schools, even when inspecting a ballistic missile.
In 2012 he was seen holding a cigarette while watching a sports event with his pregnant wife Ri Sol Ju. But Kim was not seen smoking throughout Friday's headline-grabbing summit, neither indoors nor out, even during an extended conversation with Moon at an outdoor table where an ashtray had been provided for him.
"Chairman Kim did not smoke even when there were no prying eyes from journalists and photographers around him," a Moon aide was quoted by local media as telling journalists.
"This was probably a gesture of respect towards President Moon who is much older than him," he said. Kim also gestured to Moon to step into a lift ahead of him, with Moon later describing him as "well-mannered" and "straightfoward and candid".
At the summit the two men pledged in a blaze of publicity to pursue denuclearisation and a peace treaty -- although analysts point out that previous similar pledges have come to naught and the North made no explicit commitment to give up its nuclear weapons.
Kim drank heartily at a dinner after the event, the reports said on Monday. "When South Koreans approached him with a drink, he stood up from his seat, let them pour for him and drained it all in one shot," according to one participant.
"He never turned it down, whoever came," even though the "munbaeju" liquor was 40 per cent alcohol.
Kim's passion for basketball -- former Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman has visited Pyongyang several times -was confirmed when he suggested the two Koreas focus on it for sports events rather than football.
"Why don't we have basketball exchanges first instead of Seoul-pyongyang football exchange?" Kim reportedly told Moon, lamenting the loss of a former North Korean star centre described as the world's tallest player. "When we had Ri Myong Hun, we were stronger than the South but after his retirement, we became weak," Kim said.
Kim was described as taking everyone by surprise, including his own sister and close aide Kim Yo Jong, when he promised to reset Pyongyang time to synchronise it with Seoul.
"This is news to me as well," the sister told Moon's top aide Im Jong-seok when he asked whether she had been aware of the decision in advance.
A Realmeter opinion poll after the meeting showed that 65 per cent of South Koreans believed the North is willing to denuclearise, while 28 per cent do not. TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an "infamous liar" over his allegations of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons programme.
Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi called the accusations that Tehran lied about its nuclear ambitions "worn-out, useless and shameful".
Netanyahu's comments came from a "broke and infamous liar who has had nothing to offer except lies and deceits," Ghasemi said in a statement.
"Netanyahu and the notorious, child-killing Zionist regime must have reached the basic understanding that the people of the world have enough awareness and cognisance," he added.
Netanyahu said in an elaborate televised presentation on Monday that he had new "proof" of an Iranian nuclear weapons plan that could be activated at any time.
But he did not provide evidence that Israel's main enemy had actively worked to obtain an atomic weapon since the 2015 agreement between Tehran and six world powers.
His accusations came as the United States considers whether to pull out of the atomic accord with Tehran.
Iran has always denied it sought a nuclear weapon, insisting its atomic programme was for civilian purposes. LONDON: A member of Britain's House of Lords was on Tuesday forced to deny that he is a racist after he called Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar a typical Indian on social media.
Lord Kilclooney, a former member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Northern Ireland, was responding to a BBC headline on Twitter which read: DUP: Varadkar's visit to Northern Ireland showed disrespect' . Kilclooney tweeted back on Monday with the words, Typical Indian .
"I am certainly no racist and in particular have an admiration for Indians. A member of the British/indian APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group), only on Monday I had a reply from 10, Downing St asking for a relaxation of visas for Indians. My point was that the PM (Varadkar) had upset Unionists more than Irish PMS had," he later tweeted, after being accused of racism. But many took to Twitter to condemn his words, including former Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt who said it could only be interpreted as a racist comment .
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said Lord Kilclooney was "an embarrassment".
She said his latest comment was a "slur on all Indian people with his use of the word 'typical'" and demanded that the Speaker of the House of Lords raise the matter with the peer.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA Christopher Stalford tweeted: "I don't know what John Taylor (Lord Kilclooney) thinks he's playing at but he doesn't speak for me. Absolutely ridiculous behaviour".
The 80-year-old life peer defended his remark by saying Varadkar had been "most provocative" over the course of the Brexit negotiations and had "misunderstood the views of many unionists". He added that the Irish premier had a "dismal lack of knowledge" about Northern Ireland affairs.
The comments came after Northern Ireland's DUP accused Maharashtrian-origin Varadkar of breach of protocol saying he visited the region without informing local elected representatives of his visit to counties Armagh and Down. The Irish leader stressed that he followed standard protocol by informing the Northern Ireland Office of his visit.
I can assure anyone that I'm not an invader. I just want to be a good neighbour and I received a very warm welcome in Northern Ireland," Varadkar said.