North Korea says Trump is ‘begging for nuclear war’ as Washington, Seoul prepare for massive drill
North Korea says US President Donald Trump and his administration are "begging for nuclear war” as Washington and Seoul prepare for a massive air-force drill, in a show of force aimed at Pyongyang.
Trump is "staging an extremely dangerous nuclear gamble on the Korean Peninsula," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement called Trump a "nuclear demon" and a "disruptor of global peace."
The statement came ahead of the joint US-South Korean military drill, known as Vigilant Ace, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. About 12,000 US military personnel and 230 planes are expected to participate in the military exercise.
A furious commentary published in the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun last month said Trump had displayed his "true colors as an old lunatic, mean trickster and human reject" during his recent visit to South Korea.
The editorial came days after Pyongyang test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts said showed a major advance in technology.
Following Tuesday’s groundbreaking missile test, Trump vowed additional "major sanctions" against North Korea in a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday.
Trump and other US officials have on numerous occasions threatened to use violent means against North Korea.
Earlier this week, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned North Korea's leadership that the country would be "utterly destroyed" if war were to break out between Washington and Pyongyang.
Haley’s comments drew criticism from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who said America’s threat to destroy North Korea should war break out was “a bloodthirsty tirade” and a big mistake.
"If someone really wants to use force to, as the US representative to the United Nations put it, destroy North Korea ...then I think that is playing with fire and a big mistake," said Lavrov on Friday.
Pyongyang is already under different sorts of international sanctions aimed at stopping its nuclear and missile programs.
It has, however, defied the mounting pressure and vowed not to give up its missile and nuclear program, citing Washington’s aggressive stance toward the country.
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