Seoul/New York: North Korea said it might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean after Donald Trump vowed to destroy the reclusive country, even as leader Kim Jong-un promised to make the US president pay dearly for his threats.
In a statement by a North Korean leader, Kim called a “mentally deranged US dotard.” Japan described the North's recent threat as “totally unacceptable.” Trump retorted with another message on Twitter. “Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before,” Trump said, a day after announcing additional sanctions on Pyongyang, including on its shipping and trade networks.
Trump said in the UN he would “totally destroy” North Korea if it threatened the US and its allies, and called Kim a “rocket man on a suicide mission.”
Kim said the North would consider the “highest-level of hard-line countermeasure in history” against the US and that Trump's comments had confirmed his nuclear programme was “the correct path. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”
Asked about the North's threat, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said diplomatic efforts would continue but military options were on the table. “We are quite challenged,” he said, but hoped increased sanctions and “voices from every corner of the world” would help lead Kim to talks. A US official said Washington was taking Kim's threat seriously. Such a test would be a “game-changer” if North Korea actually did it, he said. “There's a certain amount of bluster that's taken for granted when you're dealing with North Korea.” Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed to Seoul's “acquisition and development of advanced military assets” and to increased deployment of US assets in and around South Korea on a rotational basis, White House said.
The KCNA also made a rare criticism of Chinese media, saying their comments on the North's nuclear project had damaged ties and suggested Beijing, its only major ally, had sided with Washington. KCNA said Chinese media was “openly resorting to interference in the internal affairs of another country.” UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called for statesmanship to avoid “sleepwalking” into a war, and South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm. “All relevant sides should exercise restraint and dedicate themselves to easing the situation rather than irritating each other,” said Lu Kang, China's foreign ministry spokesman.
However, the rhetoric has started to rattle foreign countries. French sports minister Laura Flessel said France's team would not travel to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea if its security could not be guaranteed. Asian stocks fell, and the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained, on the possibility of a hydrogen bomb test. US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to operate in US.
