KIM’S COLD WAR
Nuclear ice sculptures for New Year as dictator threatens West (again)
NUCLEAR missiles and other weapons of war might seem unlikely subjects for ice sculptures – but not in North Korea.
As the country’s dictator Kim Jong-un boasted of his arsenal in a trenchant New Year’s Eve speech, families posed for photos next to statues of a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile and a launcher vehicle at the Pyongyang Ice Sculpture Festival.
Kim, wearing a new Western-style grey suit and tie to deliver another diatribe against Donald Trump, said the US should note that his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat.
‘The US should know the button for nuclear weapons is on my table,’ he added. ‘The entire US mainland is within our strike range – the US can never start a war against me and our country.’
He struck a conciliatory tone towards neighbouring South Korea, however, wishing it success for February’s Winter Olympics and suggesting talks about the North sending a delegation.
But Rah Jong-yil, a former head of South Korean intelligence, said it was not an ‘olive branch’ but a bid to delay joint USSouth Korean military exercises.