[Yonhap Photo]
In a statement interspersed with slight and insult, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened to take "a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history", deriding a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump and snubbing him as a "deranged dotard".
Kim warned that he would make Trump "pay dearly" for his U.N. speech calling for the total destruction of North Korea, comparing it to "a frightened dog barks louder". "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire," Kim said in the statement published by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
It was Kim's first response to a series of remarks by Trump who has nicknamed the North Korean leader as "Rocket Man" who is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.
Kim hit back with insulting remarks, describing Trump as "a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire", and accused the U.S. president of making "unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors".
"A frightened dog barks louder. I'd like to advise Trump to exercise prudence in selecting words and to be considerate of whom he speaks to when making a speech in front of the world," Kim said, adding Trump's remarks convinced him, "rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct".
"Now that Trump has denied the existence of and insulted me and my country in front of the eyes of the world and made the most ferocious declaration of a war in history that he would destroy the DPRK (North Korea), we will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history," Kim said.
"Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say." In New York, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho suggested Kim was probably referring to the "most powerful" test of a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
Kim's statement ended with a threat to take action beyond Trump's expectation, revealing his determination to defy international sanctions and go ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
"This is not a rhetorical expression loved by Trump. I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue. Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation."
The statement came after Trump endorsed new sanctions that focused on individuals, companies, financial institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea.
"Our new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind," the US leader said, allowing the Treasury Department to target any individual or entity that conducts "significant" trade in goods, services or technology with Pyongyang.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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