Kim Jong-un used a New Year message on Monday to say that North Korea would mass-produce nuclear warheads and the missiles that carry them, suggesting he would accelerate a weapons programme that has stoked international tensions.
Mr Kim, who said that he always had a nuclear launch button on his desk, has presided over several missile tests in recent months and the North's sixth and most powerful nuclear test — which it said was a hydrogen bomb — in September.
"We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles and speed up their deployment," said Mr Kim in his annual address to the nation.
He reiterated his claims that North Korea had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear power but insisted its expansion of 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."
Pyongyang ramped up its efforts to become a nuclear power in 2017, despite international sanctions and increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the United States.
The North claims it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from a hostile Washington and has strived to create a warhead capable of targeting the US mainland.
US president Donald Trump has responded to each test with his own amplified declarations, threatening to "totally destroy" Pyongyang and taunting Mr Kim, saying the North Korean leader was on "a suicide mission".
But far from persuading Mr Kim to give up his nuclear drive, analysts said Mr Trump's tough talk may have prompted the North Korean leader to push through with his quest.
"[The North] can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the US and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the US from playing with fire," Mr Kim said.
"The nuclear button is always on my table. The US must realise this is not blackmail, but reality."
Mr Kim's comments came after a former senior US military officer warned that the Trump presidency had helped create "an incredibly dangerous climate".
"We're actually closer, in my view, to a nuclear war with North Korea and in that region than we have ever been," said Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, in an interview on ABC's This Week on Sunday.
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When asked for a response to Mr Kim's claim that he had a nuclear button on his desk, Mr Trump said: "We'll see, we'll see", in comments to reporters during the New Year's Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Pyongyang regards American military activities in the region — such as the joint drills it holds with the South — as a precursor to invasion.
It has rattled the international community by testing increasingly longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) throughout 2017.
But any military intervention by the US could escalate into a conflict that would threaten the lives of millions.
Critics said Pyongyang wants to forcibly reunify the peninsula — divided by a demilitarised zone since the ceasefire of the 1950-1953 Korean war.
But Mr Kim also sugared his speech on Monday with a conciliatory tone towards Seoul, indicating for the first time that the North is considering taking part in the South's Winter Olympics next month.
"[The Olympics] will serve as a good chance to display our Korean people's grace towards the world and we sincerely hope the Games will be a success," Mr Kim said, urging the South to cease its "nuclear war exercise" with the US.
At a time when the risk of a US pre-emptive strike is "higher than ever", Koh Yu-hwan, political science professor at Dongguk University, said the speech indicated Mr Kim was using the Olympics gesture as a means to "shift from confrontation to peaceful co-existence with the United States".
"When he said a nuclear launch button is always on his desk, he is hinting it is not necessary for the North to stage nuclear or ICBM tests in the foreseeable future," he told AFP, adding that he believed Mr Kim also wanted to build "massive nuclear retaliation capabilities".
In December, the UN Security Council unanimously passed more US-drafted sanctions against Pyongyang, restricting oil supplies vital for the impoverished state.
The third raft of sanctions imposed last year, which the North criticised as an "act of war", also received the backing of China — the country's sole major ally and economic lifeline.
Observers said Washington must open talks with the North to defuse tensions — but that remains a challenge.
Pyongyang has always said it will only deal with the US from a position of equality as a nuclear state.
Washington has long insisted that it will not accept a nuclear-armed North and Pyongyang must embark on a path towards nuclear disarmament before any talks.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 10am:
Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog
Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan
Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)
Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)
Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)
Court 1
Starting at 10am:
Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska
Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh
Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet
Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)
Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage
Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse
Court 2
Starting at 10am:
Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang
Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka
Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic
Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri
Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova
Court 3
Starting at 10am:
Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang
Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar
Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova
