North Korea on Thursday called US Vice President Mike Pence "ignorant and stupid" for renewing a threat to cancel the June 12 meeting to be held in Singapore.
The high stakes talks between president DonaldTrump and Mr Kim were to have focused on ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons and improving ties after decades of animosity.
The summit was scheduled after months of unusually cordial diplomacy between the historic foes, brokered by South Korea.
As part of the reconciliation, North Korea carried out what it says is the demolition of its nuclear test site in the presence of foreign journalists on Thursday, deep in the mountains of the North's sparsely populated northeast.
The North's decision to close the site has generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Mr Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the summit. Even so, it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Mr Trump's demands for denuclearisation.
The North did invite international inspectors to the ceremony, which limits its value as a serious concession.
The newfound bonhomie between the US and North Korea, and the meeting of their leaders, had been thrown into doubt in recent days with both Washington and Pyongyang raising the prospect of cancelling the talks and trading threats.
The latest broadside from North Korea came on Thursday with vice minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui lambasting a Monday media interview in which Mr Pence warned Mr Kim that it would be a "great mistake" to try and play Mr Trump.
Mr Pence also said North Korea could end up like Libya, whose former leader Muammar Qaddafi was killed by US-backed rebels years after giving up atomic weapons, "if Kim Jong un doesn't make a deal".
"I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice president," Ms Choe said in a statement released by the state-run KCNA news agency.
"We will neither beg the US for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us," she said, adding she would recommend Mr Kim cancel the talks if Washington continued to make such threats.
Similar comments comparing North Korea to Libya from Mr Trump's hawkish National Security Adviser John Bolton caused the first threat by Pyongyang last week to cancel the Singapore meeting.
"Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behaviour of the United States," Ms Choe added.
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Read more
Trump-Kim summit on the line as South Korea's Moon visits White House
Trump-Kim summit looks like a breakthrough, but is it?
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Politically, Trump has invested heavily in the success of the planned summit, and so privately most US officials, as well as outside observers, believe it will go ahead.
Hand-picked aides -- including deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin and deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel -- are traveling to the Southeast Asian city state designated to host the summit, officials said.
They are expected to meet their North Korean counterparts and iron out details of the meeting.
But Mr Trump has also become increasingly lukewarm about meeting Mr Kim, teasing his commitment to talks as keenly as any of his "The Apprentice" season finales.
"On Singapore we'll see. It could very well happen," he said on Wednesday, adding cryptically: "Whatever it is, we'll know next week."
Mr Trump enthusiastically embraced the idea of talks earlier this year.
But as the date draws nearer, the gulf in expectations between the two sides is coming into sharp relief.
Washington has made it clear it wants to see the "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation" of the North.
But Pyongyang has vowed it will never give up its nuclear deterrence until it feels safe from what it terms US aggression.
On Wednesday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- who has met personally with Mr Kim -- said whether the summit goes ahead is now up to North Korea. His remarks reflect an effort to perhaps lay the groundwork for blame should the talks fail.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
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.”
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
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Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
