North Korean leader Kim Jong-un yesterday lobbed a string of insults at US President Donald Trump, calling him a “mentally deranged US dotard” and hinting at frightening new weapons tests.
It was the first time that a North Korean leader has issued such a direct statement against a US president, dramatically escalating the war of words between the former wartime foes and raising the international nuclear standoff to a new level.
Trump responded by saying on Twitter that Kim is “obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people.”
Photo: EPA-EFE/Korean Central News Agency
In a lengthy statement carried by North Korean state media, Kim said that Trump would “pay dearly” for his threat to destroy North Korea.
He also called Trump “deranged” and “a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire.”
North Korea will consider the “highest level of hardline countermeasure in history,” Kim said, without elaborating, a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon.
Asked what the countermeasure would be, North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong-ho, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, said the country might test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
“I think it could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific,” South Korean TV quoted Ri as saying. “We have no idea about what actions could be taken, as it will be ordered by leader Kim Jong-un.”
Kim’s statement was unusual, because it was written in the first person.
North Korean state TV later showed a solemn-looking Kim, dressed in a gray Mao-style suit, reading the statement.
The South Korean government said it was the first direct address to the world by any North Korean leader.
Kim’s statement was in response to Trump’s combative speech at the General Assembly on Tuesday, in which he mocked Kim as “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission” and said that if “forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
Kim said Trump’s remarks “have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last.”
He added that he would “tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”
North Korea was slapped with new, stiffer sanctions by the UN after its sixth and most power nuclear test on Sept. 3.
Hours before Kim’s statement, Trump announced stiffer new sanctions on North Korea as he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for lunch.
Trump’s executive order expanded the US Department of the Treasury’s ability to target anyone conducting significant trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea, and to ban them from interacting with the US financial system.
Trump also praised China for what he called an instruction to its banks to cut off business with North Korea.
However, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said that Trump’s announcement was “not consistent with the facts,” although he gave no indication what steps China might be taking.
In Taiwan, the Executive Yuan yesterday said in a statement that Premier William Lai (賴清德) has decided to enforce bans on imports from and exports to North Korea.
As Taiwan is part of the international community, it must impose sanctions on North Korea in compliance with the UN Security Council’s decisions, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said, calling for North Korea to cease actions that harm regional peace, stability and prosperity.
Additional reporting by staff writer
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio
RSS