Kim again rides horse up mountain as nuke deadline nears

rth Korean leer Kim Jong Un rode a white horse up a sacred mountain on his second symbolic visit in less than two months, state media reported Wednesday, as his country is threatening provocation if United States refuses to make concessions in nuclear diplomacy by year’s end.

Korean Central News ncy released many photos showing Kim taking a horse riding to sw-covered Mount Paektu along with his wife and or top lieutenants, all on white horses. Kim also climbed mountain, highest peak on Korean Peninsula, on horseback in mid-October.

Mount Paektu and white horses are symbols associated with Kim family’s dynastic rule. Kim has me previous visits re before making major decisions. Kim said that “we should always live and work in offensive spirit of Paektu,” according to KCNA. “ imperialists and class enemies make a more frantic attempt to undermine ideological, revolutionary and class positions of our party.”

On Monday, Kim visited Samjiyon county at foot of Mount Paektu to attend a ceremony marking completion of work that has transformed town to “an epitome of modern civilization,” KCNA said. It said town has a museum on Kim family, a ski slope, cultural centers, a school, a hospital and factories. Samjiyon was one of main construction projects that Kim launched in an effort to improve his people’s livelihoods and strengn his rule at home. construction spree has also been seen as a demonstration of his power in face of international sanctions designed to squeeze his ecomy and get him to give up his nuclear program.

latest mountain trip comes as a year-end deline set by Kim for Washington to come up with new proposals to salv nuclear diplomacy is approaching. negotiations remain stalled for months, with rth Korea trying to win major sanctions relief and outside security assurances in return for partial denuclearization steps. rth’s Foreign Ministry warned Tuesday it’s entirely up to United States to choose what “Christmas gift” it gets from rth. rth Korean officials have previously said wher rth Korea lifts its moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests depends on what actions U.S. takes.

Last week, rth Korea test-fired projectiles from what it called a “super-large” multiple rocket launcher that South Korea’s military said landed in waters off rths’ east coast. KCNA said Wednesday ruling Workers’ Party will hold a central committee meeting in late December to discuss unspecified “crucial issues” in line with “ changed situation at home and abro.” It’s unclear what specific ndas are at stake.

Many experts say United States is unlikely to make new proposals that would satisfy rth Korea. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Kim to follow through on what he described as a promise to denuclearize rth. Trump and Kim have met three times since rth Korea entered nuclear negotiations last year. “My relationship with Kim Jong Un is really good, but that doesn’t mean he won’t abide by agreements ... he said he will denuclearize,” Trump said during a visit to London. “w, we have most powerful military we ever h, and we are by far most powerful country in world and hopefully we don’t have to use it. But if we do, we will use it.”

Trump also revived a nickname he h previously given Kim when he tred crude insults and threats of destruction during a provocative run in rth Korean nuclear and missile tests in 2017. Kim “likes sending rockets up, doesn’t he?” Trump said. “That’s why I call him Rocket Man.”