Kim hurls insults at ‘dotard’ Trump
FOSTER KLUG
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lobbed a string of insults at U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, calling him a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and hinting at a frightening new weapon test.
It was the first time for a North Korean leader to issue such a direct statement against a U.S. president, dramatically escalating the war of words and raising the international nuclear standoff to a new level.
Trump responded by tweeting that Kim is “obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people.”
In a lengthy statement carried by state media, Kim said Trump would “pay dearly” for his recent threat to destroy North Korea. He also called Trump “deranged” and “a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire.”
Kim said his country will consider the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history,” a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon, but didn’t elaborate.
His foreign minister, asked on a visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly what the countermeasure would be, said his country may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
“I think it could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific,” Ri Yong Ho said, according to South Korean TV. “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 grey Mao-style suit, reading the statement. South Korea’s government said it was the first direct address to the world by any North Korean leader.
Some analysts saw a clear sign that North Korea will ramp up its already brisk pace of weapons testing.
Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera noted a Pacific test could mean a nuclear-armed missile flying over Japan. He said North Korea might conduct an H-bomb test with a medium-range or intercontinental ballistic missile, given its recent advances in weapons development.
“We cannot deny the possibility it may fly over our country,” he said.
Hours before Kim’s statement, Trump announced stiffer new sanctions on North Korea.