Kim hears ‘screams of terrified Trump’

– North Korea hit back at US President Donald Trump yesterday after he slammed rights abuses under the hermit regime in his State of the Union address, with Pyongyang describing the speech as “screams of Trump terrified” by the North’s power.

The comments follow months of fiery rhetoric between the two countries that have seen tensions soar, with Trump drawing criticism at home for repeatedly using highly menacing language towards the reclusive state.

During Wednesday’s address, he criticised the “cruel dictatorship” of Kim Jong-Un and the leader’s “reckless pursuit” of atomic weapons while vowing to wage “a campaign of maximum pressure” to derail the nuclear threat.

Kim declared his country a fully-fledged nuclear power last November after testing an intercontinental ballistic missile Pyongyang claimed is capable of reaching the US mainland.

Trump also lashed out at human rights abuses under the regime and highlighted the case of Otto Warmbier, a US student who died last year shortly after being released from a 17-month-long detention in North Korea.

A spokesperson of the North’s foreign ministry yesterday said the speech reflected “the height of Trump-style arrogance, arbitrariness and self-conceit”.

“Trump also insisted upon the ‘maximum pressure’ against our country, viciously slandering our most superior people-centered social system.” – AFP