North Korea's Kim Jong-un calls Donald Trump 'mentally deranged', warns him after UNGA speech: US ramps up sanctions

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Friday mocked Donald Trump as “mentally deranged” — and warned he will make the US president “pay dearly” for threatening the destruction of his country at the United Nations. Kim lashed out after Trump stunned the world on Tuesday when he used his maiden UN General Assembly speech to warn the North that Washington would “totally destroy” it if the US or its allies were attacked.

The bellicose speech came after months of escalating tensions over advances in the rogue weapons programme operated by Pyongyang, which has defied tough sanctions to launch its sixth and largest nuclear test and to fire a series of missiles over Japan.

“I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the US pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying the DPRK,” Kim was quoted as saying by state news agency KCNA, referring to North Korea’s official name. Kim, whom Trump belittles as “Rocket Man”, also questioned the sanity of the US leader, referring to the “mentally deranged behavior of the US president openly expressing on the UN arena the unethical will to ’totally destroy’ a sovereign state”. Isolated and impoverished, the North says it needs a nuclear deterrent to protect it from an aggressive US and the autocratic regime has made militarism a central part of its national ideology. The statement stressed Kim was in no mood to change course.

Trump’s remarks “have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last,” Kim added.

[caption id=“attachment_4069015” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Kim, whom Trump belittles as “Rocket Man”, also questioned the sanity of the US leader. Reuters[/caption] US Ramps up North Korea sanctions The angry response also came after the US on Thursday sharply ramped up sanctions aimed at curtailing North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive, targeting the regime’s trading partners with a sweeping ban on business. Trump unveiled the new measures as he met with the leaders of allies Japan and South Korea, even as key players China and Russia voiced unease with his more aggressive approach. Two days after his first address to the UN General Assembly, Trump signed an executive order to ban firms from operating in the United States if they deal with North Korea. Time will tell whether economic pressure forces Kim to back down, but the young dictator was keen to show the world that he was not intimidated by Trump’s forceful rhetoric, and responded with some of his own.

Pyongyang’s stated aim is to be able to target the US mainland and the nation has flaunted the advances in its weapons programme in recent weeks, with the September test of what it said was a miniaturised H-bomb capable of being loaded onto a rocket.

More from World

9/11 and Pakistan: The story that Trump has forgotten ‘There will be no Palestinian state’: Netanyahu signs West Bank settlement expansion plan

The country also tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July that appeared to bring much of the US mainland into range. Trump’s most senior cabinet members have joined him in New York for the UN meeting and a week of high-stakes diplomacy, and were on hand to reinforce his message. “Foreign financial institutions are now on notice that going forward they can choose to do business with the United States or with North Korea, but not both,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. Later, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the UN Security Council: “North Korea may assume that nuclear weapons may ensure the survival of its regime. In truth, nuclear weapons are clearly only leading to greater isolation, ignominy and deprivation.”

The United States already punishes foreign firms tied to North Korea’s military programs but the latest action sharply expands the range, targeting businesses involved in everything from technology to fishing.

[caption id=“attachment_4069023” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Trump unveiled the new measures as he met with the leaders of allies Japan and South Korea, even as key players China and Russia voiced unease with his more aggressive approach.[/caption] Financial companies may feel the biggest impact. Trump’s order also bans any aircraft or ship that has traveled to North Korea from landing in the United States. The European Union readied its own sanctions. The wealthy bloc agreed to a ban on investments in North Korea and EU exports of oil to the regime, diplomatic sources said in Brussels. Trump also said China’s central bank had ordered national banks to curb their dealings with North Korea, describing the move from Pyongyang’s key ally as “very bold” and “unexpected.”

This month North Korea has tested its sixth nuclear bomb and has test-fired intercontinental missiles — saying it needs to defend itself against hostility from the United States and its allies.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Oli resigns: Who Nepal Gen Z protesters will accept as next PM, Deuba, Prachanda or Koirala?

The US administration has refused to offer North Korea incentives to open negotiations and has ramped up threats of military action to force leader Kim to change course. But meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump said “Why not?” when asked whether there could be a dialogue with North Korea. China, Russia warn on approach China has by far the most influence on North Korea, providing an economic lifeline. But it also fears the consequences if the regime collapses, such as an exodus of refugees or a US-allied reunited Korea on its border.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told the General Assembly there was still room for talks — the polar opposite of remarks a day earlier by Japan’s Abe who said that past dialogue had achieved nothing. “There is still hope for peace and we must not give up. Negotiation is the only way out and deserves every effort,” said Wang, who also asked South Korea and Japan not to consider developing their own nuclear weapons.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that while his government condemns North Korea, “military hysteria is not just an impasse, it’s disaster.” German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel delivered a strikingly open rebuttal to Trump’s “America First” theme from an ally. “The motto ‘Our country first’ not only leads to more national confrontations and less prosperity. In the end, there will only be losers,” Gabriel said in his address, three days before Germany’s election. South Korea’s Moon, a longtime dove who was elected president in May, supported the sanctions but took a different tone from Trump. South Korea was not seeking the collapse of its neighbor and was ready to help if Pyongyang decides “to stand on the right side of history” and halts its provocations, he said. “The situation surrounding the North Korean nuclear issue needs to be managed stably so that tensions will not become overly intensified or accidental military clashes will not destroy peace,” said Moon, who met later jointly with Trump and Abe. Implementation to be key Peter Harrell, a former State Department official, said Trump’s executive order was “pretty sweeping in scope” and went well beyond the latest UN sanctions, which curtailed North Korean textile exports and guest workers. But Harrell, now at the Center for a New American Security think tank, said the key question would be implementation. “If important Chinese and Russian companies keep trading with North Korea, will Trump in fact impose sanctions on them?” he asked. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho is expected to meet on Saturday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will send out feelers on possible diplomatic talks. With inputs from AFP