North Korea says Trump tweet amounts to ‘declaration of war’
● Foreign minister claims country has right to shoot down US bombers
The Trump administration clarified yesterday that it is not seeking to overthrow North Korea’s government after the president tweeted that Kim Jong-un “won’t be around much longer” and Pyongyang interpreted it as a declaration of war.
Ratcheting up the rhetoric, the North’s top diplomat also argued that Trump’s comment gave the country the right to shoot down US warplanes in international airspace.
Trump’s Saturday tweet said: “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at UN. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer.” Trump also used “rocket man” for Mr Kim in his speech to the UN General Assembly last week.
While the comments may be read as an implicit threat to eliminate Mr Kim, a senior administration official said Washington had not changed its policy. American efforts in North Korea are not aimed at regime change, said the official, who requested anonymity.
Cabinet officials, particularly Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, have insisted that the Usled diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea is focused on eliminating the pariah state’s nuclear weapons programme, not its totalitarian government.
Military manoeuvres are adding to tensions along the two Koreas’ heavily militarised border. In a show of might to North Korea, US bombers and fighter escorts on Saturday flew further north of the border between North and South Korea than any other American aircraft this century.
Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Rob Manning said the operation was conducted in international airspace and legally permissible. He said that the US had a “deep arsenal of military options to provide the president so that he can then decide how he wants to deal with North Korea”.
“We are prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from an attack and are prepared to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the threat from North Korea,” Manning told reporters.
North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said yesterday that the world did not want “the war of words” between his country and the US to “turn into real action”. But he said Trump’s claim that “our leadership wouldn’t be around much longer” had escalated the conflict.
“Given the fact that this comes from someone who is currently holding the seat of [the] United States presidency, this is clearly a declaration of war.”
Ri also said North Korea now has “every right” to take countermeasures, including shooting down US strategic bombers “not yet inside the airspace border of our country”.
North Korea has responded to past US slights by equating them to declarations of war - a state that still formally exists between them because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.
Fresh tension between the US and North Korea came as Donald Trump’s administration implemented new restrictions on visitors from several nations around the world, including North Korea. However, observers said they were largely symbolic in North Korea’s case, because not many of its citizens visit America.
North Korea’s government does not usually allow its 24 million people to travel abroad, except in special cases, such as for jobs that bring in foreign currency, or participation in sporting events.
The country has tens of thousands of workers abroad but none are believed to be in the US. Reports said there was a dwindling number of North Koreans visiting the United States. Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said: “It’s a symbolic measure. North Korea won’t probably make any response.”