“The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is the reality, not a threat,” the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un said during a televised New Year’s Day speech on Monday. Senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies Yang Xiyu says they desperately need to say that because, after years of significant leaps towards nuclear development, it’s high time for Pyongyang to shift their strategic focus to economic growth.