A senior member of the North Korean government has again described Donald Trump as a “dotard” after the US President revived the war words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by calling him “Rocket Man.”
Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s First Vice-Foreign Minister, was quoted by North Korea’s state news agency as saying the foreign ministry “can not repress displeasure over the utterances made by President Trump inappropriately at the most sensitive time.”
Choe added: “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.”
Speaking of the North Korean leader at the NATO summit in London on Tuesday, Trump said: “He really likes sending rockets up, doesn’t he? That’s why I call him Rocket Man.” Trump added that he and Kim have “a good relationship.”
The statement on Thursday is the latest in a series of increasingly dire warnings by North Korea, and recalls the strong language between the two leaders that escalated in 2017, before a landmark meeting the following year in Singapore.
Pak Jong Chon, the chief of staff of the Korean People’s Army, said Wednesday that Kim was “displeased” by what he called “undesirable remarks” about North Korea made by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday in London, where he was attending NATO meetings.
Pak’s comments come amid a ratcheting up in rhetoric from the North Koreans ahead of the country’s self-imposed end-of-year deadline for negotiations with the US.
A foreign ministry official said earlier this week that Pyongyang was preparing a “Christmas gift,” for Washington, but warned that the present the Trump administration will receive depends on events in the coming days.
When Trump was asked about North Korea’s recent uptick in missile tests and the status of nuclear talks Tuesday, he referred to Kim as “Rocket Man” – a nickname the President coined during the standoff between Pyongyang and Washington in 2017 – and