North Korea has threatened to resume insults of Donald Trump and consider him a ‘dotard’ if he continues to refer to leader Kim Jong Un as Rocket Man.
Senior North Korean official Choe Son Hui issued the warning after Trump spoke of potential military action toward the North and revived the Rocket Man nickname for Kim at a Nato summit in London.
‘If any language and expressions stoking the atmosphere of confrontation are used once again on purpose at a crucial moment as now, that must really be diagnosed as the relapse of the dotage of a dotard,’ she said.
Trump had previously given Kim the moniker when the pair traded crude insults and threats of destruction during a provocative run of North Korean nuclear and missile tests in 2017.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rides a horse as he visits battle sites at Mount Paektu in Ryanggang alongside his wife Ri Sol-ju, released by the KCNA on December 4
Son Hui said it would represent a ‘very dangerous challenge’ reminiscent of two years ago should Trump call the leader Rocket Man again.
She added that his remarks ‘prompted the waves of hatred of our people against the US’ because as they showed ‘no courtesy when referring to the supreme leadership of dignity’ of North Korea.
On Wednesday, chief of staff for the Korean People’s Army Pak Jong Chon revealed Kim was ‘displeased’ by comments made by Trump at the summit, as he accused the US president of ‘bluffing’ with threats of military action.
‘I heard that the US president made undesirable remarks about the DPRK on December 3 during the NATO summit in Britain’, he said. ‘The Supreme Commander of our armed forces was also displeased to hear it.’
Trump had asserted that Washington could use military force against North Korea ‘if we have to’ at the summit on Tuesday, though he added he still hoped for talks. He also urged Kim to follow through on what he described as a promise to denuclearize the North.
Donald Trump asserted at the Nato summit in London that Washington could use military force against North Korea ‘if we have to’, though he added he still hoped for talks
Kim and other top lieutenants walk along bridge in the snowy Mount Paektu area in pictures heavy with symbolism
‘My relationship with Kim Jong Un is really good, but that doesn’t mean he won’t abide by the agreements … he said he will denuclearize,’ Trump said during the visit to London. ‘Now, we have the most powerful military we ever had, and we are by far the most powerful country in the world and hopefully we don’t have to use it. But if we do, we will use it.’
It was then that Trump revived the nickname Rocket Man. Kim ‘likes sending rockets up, doesn’t he?’ Trump said. ‘That’s why I call him Rocket Man.’
It appears the president’s Nato summit comments have bothered Kim and other high-ranking North Korean officials, CNN reported.
Michael Madden, an expert in North Korean leadership at the Stimson Foundation, said officials do not often release public statements, and if they do, they largely focus on tensions between North and South Korea.
Kim Jong Un rides a horse alongside his wife Ri Sol-ju as he visits battle sites at Mount Paektu
In the statement, Pak, who was photographed alongside Kim at the sacred Mount Paektu on Wednesday, said that although Trump ‘attached preconditions’ when discussing the use of military force against North Korea, the statement ‘greatly disappointed’ him.
He added: ‘But recently the US president said that he may use armed forces in clear reference to the DPRK, even though he attached preconditions. This greatly disappointed me.
‘Such elated spirit and bluffing may greatly get on the nerve of the dialogue partner even at the slightest slip.’
North Korea also said it would take ‘prompt corresponding actions’ if the US resorts to military force, as tensions continue to rise ahead of Pyongyang’s year-end deadline for stalled denuclearisation talks.
‘I clearly state here that if the US uses any armed forces against the DPRK, we will also take prompt corresponding actions at any level,’ Pak added, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
‘The use of armed forces against the DPRK will be a horrible thing for the US’.
North Korea and the US are still technically at war and the state of truce could turn into an ‘all-out armed conflict any moment’ even by accident, Pak said.
On Wednesday, for the second time in two months, Kim visited Mount Paektu on horseback, this time accompanied by senior military officers. This visit was aimed at instilling the mountain’s ‘indefatigable revolutionary spirit’ in the people, KCNA reported.
Leader Kim visits battle sites at snow-covered Mount Paektu alongside other top lieutenants
Kim has warned the United States it has until the end of the year to offer more concessions or North Korea will pursue an unspecified ‘new path’. Analysts believe that may include a resumption of intercontinental ballistic missile launches or nuclear tests.
Washington has urged North Korea to give up significant portions of its nuclear arsenal before punishing international sanctions are eased, while Pyongyang has accused the United States of ‘gangster-like’ demands for unilateral disarmament.
US officials have called for more talks, while playing down the deadline as ‘artificial’ and warning that it would be a ‘huge mistake and a missed opportunity’ for North Korea to take any provocative steps.
But North Korean state media have carried a steady chorus of statements in recent weeks, saying Washington should not ignore the warning and dismissing US calls for talks as a stalling tactic.
It was also announced on Wednesday the DPRK will hold a rare meeting of the ruling party’s leaders as speculation mounts about a possible policy change announcement.