Margaret Besheer
UNITED NATIONS — U.S. President Donald Trump has responded to insults from North Korea's foreign minister with more threats.
"Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!" Trump said on Twitter.
Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
North Korea’s foreign minister brought a dictionary full of insults for Trump when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday.
Ri Yong Ho said he needed to respond to Trump, who on Tuesday called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man” and said he was on a suicide mission with his nuclear program.
Ri called Trump “a mentally deranged person full of megalomania” who is on a suicide mission of his own.
“In case innocent lives of the U.S. are lost because of this suicide attack,” Trump will be held totally responsible,” he said, in response to the U.S. president’s threat to “totally destroy” North Korea if it attacks the United States or one of its allies.
“During his eight months in power, he has turned the White House into a noisy marketing place full of crackling sounds of abacus beads, and now he has tried to turn the U.N. arena into a gangsters’ nest where money is respected and bloodshed is the order of the day,” Ri said, in an apparent criticism of Trump’s billionaire businessman roots.
Sees itself as victim
Ri sought to portray his country as the victim of U.S. threats and aggression. He condemned earlier remarks by President Trump in which he promised “fire and fury like the world has never seen” after North Korea threatened to fire missiles at the U.S. island territory of Guam in August.
“What else could be a bigger threat than the violent remarks… coming from the top authority of the world’s biggest nuclear power?” Ri asked.
“The very reason the DPRK had to possess nuclear weapons is because of the U.S.,” he said, using the acronym for the country’s formal name.
But he appeared to almost mock Washington for saying that it hopes not to have to use a military option.
“Although they talk about “fire and fury,” “total destruction” and whatever, every time they have to add various conditions such as, “hopefully this will not be necessary,” “that is not our first option” and so on,” Ri said.
Ri also lashed out at Japan and South Korea, calling them “stooges” of Washington.
On September 3, Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test to date.
The regime said it was the successful launch of a hydrogen bomb mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile. The foreign minister waxed poetic about it to the General Assembly.
“The ICBM marked with sacred name of DPRK flew over the universe above the endless blue sky, the warhead of our rocket left its trace on the blue waves of the Pacific Ocean and the tremendous explosion and vibration of the hydrogen bomb were recorded by this planet,” Ri said.
This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.