North Korea accuses Donald Trump of ‘declaring war’ as it releases propaganda video
NORTH Korea has accused US president Donald Trump of declaring war on it — and warned it is ready to open fire.
NORTH Korea’s foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country and warned that Pyongyang would defend itself by shooting down US bombers.
“Trump claimed our leadership would not be around much longer,” North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said, referring to one of Mr Trump’s tweets.
“He declared a war on our country. All the member states and the whole world should clearly remember it was the United States that first declared war on our country.
“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to take countermeasures including the right to shoot down US strategic bombers even when they are not yet inside the airspace border of our country. The question of who won’t be around much longer will be answered then.”
On Saturday, Mr Trump tweeted: “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!”
But the Trump administration said on Monday it’s not seeking to overthrow North Korea’s government and called the assertion “absurd”.
Meanwhile, North Korean media has reported on comments from another of the country’s ministers, Sin Kyong-chol, who threatened to unleash a “shower of fire”.
“Trump’s unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors clearly showed the world his true colour as a ‘political layman’, ‘political heretic’ and wrecker of the world peace and security. Therefore, even Americans nicknamed him ‘top lunatic of Washington’ and ‘Pinocchio president’,” he said.
“There is no remedy but a shower of fire for such a war maniac running amuck like a moth attracted to fire.”
Ri Chang Yong, identified as head of the department of foreign studies at Pyongyang University, added: “The DPRK possessed of the strongest nuclear weapons and military hardware will surely and mercilessly exterminate those Trump-led war maniacs.”
SHORTEN VISITS DMZ
Bill Shorten has made a visit to the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea as Pyongyang accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on their country.
Australia’s Opposition leader described the visit as “an incredibly sobering experience”.
“It really struck home that more than 60 years since the Korean War, this is an unfinished conflict in every sense,” he said.
“It reinforced in my mind that what happens on the Korean Peninsula has ramifications throughout the entire world.”
BISHOP ON WAR THREAT
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop believes war with North Korea is not inevitable despite the latest explosive threat from Pyongyang.
Speaking from Washington where she will meet senior Trump administration officials, Ms Bishop told ABC radio today Australia’s response to the regime had not changed.
“I believe that North Korea can be deterred. I don’t think that there’s anything inevitable about this current circumstance,” she said.
“Obviously if North Korea were to follow through on its rhetoric and attack, there would be a retaliation. The consequences would be obvious. But there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that the strategy of diplomatic, political and economic pressure does bring North Korea to the negotiating table.”
Ms Bishop said the international community’s response would still be to apply the latest round of the UN Security Council’s sanctions.
NEW PROPAGANDA VIDEO
It comes after North Korean state media released a 99-second video depicting the destruction of US aircraft and warships and warning that any attack on the North will see US forces “head to the grave”.
The clip was released on Sunday by DPRK Today just hours after two US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew off the coast of North Korea in a show of force.
The propaganda video opened with pictures of “mad man” Trump, followed by a series of Pukguksong missiles fired from mobile launch vehicles as a F-35 Raptor fighter and a nuclear-capable Lancer bomber get destroyed by computer-generated explosions.
The footage shows USS Carl Vinson engulfed in flames after the missile strike, with subtitles stating, “Should F-35, B-1B or the Carl Vinson lead the US attack, they will head to the grave in that order.”
New NK propaganda video shows #F35, #B1B & #USSCarlVinson destroyed:#TheResistance #Democrats #NorthKorea #KimJongUn #Trump #WWIII #America pic.twitter.com/crQlnFJ3rk
— Ãð–Žð–ð–”ð–“ (@The_Dixon_Cider) September 25, 2017
NORTH KOREA’S THREAT
In his first address to the General Assembly, President Trump last week threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it challenged America or its allies and derided leader Kim Jong-un as a “rocket man” who was “on a suicide mission.”
Mr Ri noted that the statement from Mr Trump was “clearly a declaration of war” even if it came from the US president. Under the US Constitution, Congress is the sole power that can declare war.
In his brief address to reporters before heading to the airport, Mr Ri said that the international community had hoped that the “war of words between the DPRK and the United States not turn into real actions.”
The North Korean nuclear crisis has dominated this year’s gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, which wraps up on Monday, amid fears that the heated rhetoric could accidentally trigger a war.
North Korea in recent weeks detonated 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.
During his address to the General Assembly on Saturday, Mr Ri launched a personal attack on Mr Trump, calling him a “mentally deranged person full of megalomania.”
Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
Just hours before Mr Ri took the UN podium, US bombers flew off the east coast of North Korea, the furthest north of the demilitarised zone that any US aircraft has flown this century.
The Pentagon said the mission was a “demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the president has many military options to defeat any threat.”
Mr Trump’s threat to destroy North Korea made “our rockets’ visit to the entire US mainland all the more inevitable,” Mr Ri said on Saturday.
IRAN SLAMS MISSILE LINK
Iran said that suggestions by President Trump that it was working with North Korea on missile development were “nonsense”.
Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was responding to a tweet by Mr Trump over the weekend that said: “Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel. They are also working with North Korea.”
Mr Ghasemi said there were “no similarities nor resemblance” with the actions of North Korea, and that claims they were working together on ballistic missile development amounted to a “clear lie”.
“It is very clear that this is a nonsense and baseless claim,” he told reporters.
Iran said on Saturday that it had tested its Khorramshahr missile with a range of 2000 kilometres.
The indigenously-built Khorramshahr was first announced by the defence ministry in September 2016, and US officials said it was this ballistic missile was tested in January, sparking international condemnation.
However, Iran never confirmed that the January test was the Khorramshahr missile.
There has been speculation, particularly from hawks in Washington, that the Khorramshahr was based on North Korea’s intermediate-range Musudan missile.
Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel.They are also working with North Korea.Not much of an agreement we have!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
In 2010, a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks showed that US intelligence officers believed North Korea had shipped Musudan missiles to Iran. But analysts say the differing ranges cast doubt on those concerns.
A detailed report earlier this year by the US-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University in the United States found: “The available evidence cannot verify speculation that the Iranian missile is similar to North Korea’s Musudan”.
Iran and North Korea have co-operated on military technology in the past. During Iran’s war with Iraq in the 1980s, it turned to North Korea as one of the only sources of military assistance, importing a stockpile of Nodong missiles.
Iran used the Nodong to develop its own medium-range Shahab-3 missile, first tested in 1998, and it has continued to improve on the design since.
But there has been scant evidence of direct co-operation between the two countries in recent years, with Iran seemingly keen to distance itself from the East Asian pariah state.
Instead, Iran has emphasised its homegrown missile program, and denied that this breaches any international laws.
‘Help’: Car smashes into primary school kids
The incident comes amid a spate of violent attacks, including a deadly car ramming, in the country in recent weeks.
‘Action’: Australia’s big climate pledge
Australia is making a major commitment to help poorer countries weather the effects of climate change.
‘Twists and turns’: China’s warning to Aus
Anthony Albanese says he has “restored trade” with China, but Xi Jinping has dished out an ominous warning.