A state-run North Korean newspaper has lashed out against President Donald Trump following his 12-day tour of Asia – including a stop in South Korea, where Trump warned North Korea not to intimidate the United States.
An editorial in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said that Trump “should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people,” according to reports.
“The worst crime for which he can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial said, Sky News reported.
The editorial also called Trump a “coward” for having to cancel a trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea, following bad weather and heavy fog conditions that prevented the President’s helicopter from landing.
Toward the end of his Asia tour, Trump tweeted about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, after the two have traded insults for the better part of this year.
“Why would Kim Jong Un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’ Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen,” the President wrote.
Donald Trump (Twitter)
Trump spoke at the South Korean National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, during his Asia tour on Nov. 7, and he delivered a direct and potent speech about the United States’ intentions on the Korean Peninsula. At times his speech was directed at North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and Trump did not mince his words.
While condemning North Korea for the oppression of its people – what Trump called “a hell that no person deserves” – he also warned against North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons that would threaten the United States.
“Do not underestimate us. Do not try us,” Trump said. “The world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens with nuclear devastation.”
“The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in great danger,” the President pointed out.
President Trump also pointed out the stark differences between life in South Korea versus North Korea – a “miracle” nation of free people (South Korea) to a “prison state” with forced labor, torture and poverty (North Korea).
“We are ready to offer a path to a much better future,” Trump said.
While he took a diplomatic tone, the President did point out the United States’ power on the Korean Peninsula – including the three carrier strike groups that drilled together for the first time in a decade and were “loaded to the max” with F-35 and F-18 fighter jets, plus a nuclear submarine stationed nearby.
“We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction,” Trump said.
Trump also said that all nations should “sever all ties” with North Korea, and that “enabling” North Korea means “the weight of this crisis is on your conscience.”
The President also took to Twitter following his speech, and he reiterated his sentiments.
“The North Korean regime has pursued its nuclear & ballistic missile programs in defiance of every assurance, agreement, & commitment it has made to the U.S. and its allies,” he wrote. “It’s broken all of those commitments…”
“Anyone who doubts the strength or determination of the U.S. should look to our past… and you will doubt it no longer,” he continued.”
“Together, we dream of a Korea that is free, a peninsula that is safe, and families that are reunited once again,” he added.
Tensions continue to run high between the U.S. and North Korea. President Trump has hinted that the U.S. Military would take care of any situation on the Korean Peninsula, if it were to come to that; meanwhile, North Korea continues to threaten the United States with talks of launching another ICBM and continuing to develop its missile programs.
Trump in South Korea last week said that North Korea should “make a deal.”
“It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world,” Trump said during a press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. “I do see certain movement.”
He’s seen “a lot of progress” in dealing with North Korea, Trump added. He also pointed out the three aircraft carrier groups and nuclear submarine that are deployed to the region and said “we hope to God we never have to use” them.
