Summary: North Korea is claiming that President Donald Trump’s tweet over the weekend was a declaration of war against them.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter over the weekend, an act that usually results in some controversy. During his rant on the social media platform, Trump referred to the future of North Korea as a government that “won’t be around much longer.”
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho believes that comment was a declaration of war. In a translated statement he said, “Last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn’t be around much longer and declared a war on our country. Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive countermeasures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers at any time even when they are not yet inside the aerospace border of our country.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders clarified on Monday that the United States was in no way declaring war on North Korea, adding “Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd.” She also pointed out that it is “never appropriate” to shoot down another country’s airplane over international waters.
State Department spokesperson Katina Adams added that the U.S. is trying for a “peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning noted that we “will take options to make sure that we safeguard our allies and our partners and our homeland so if North Korea does not stop their provocative actions we’ll make sure we provide options to the President to deal with North Korea.”
Manning continued, “Our job as the Department of Defense is as you know is to make sure that the President is provided military options, we’ll continue to do that, and we have a deep arsenal of military options to provide the President so then he can decide how he wants to deal with North Korea and the regime. We are postured and we are ready to fight to tonight.”
The U.S. Navy will keep its presence in the area. A scheduled naval maritime exercise with the South Korean navy at the end of October off the peninsula will still happen. This exercise has been planned for a while and not in response to North Korea’s increased although North Korea feels differently.
Ri has pointed blame for any future incidents on Trump. During a speech to the United Nations on Saturday, Ri stated that a missile attack on the U.S. mainland was inevitable by insulting North Korea’s dignity. Ri said, “None other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission. In case innocent lives of the US are harmed because of this suicide attack, Trump will be held totally responsible.”
The last time North Korea shot down a U.S. aircraft was in 1969 when it downed a Navy reconnaissance mission over the Sea of Japan. All 31 Americans on board died but the U.S. did not retaliate.
Trump and North Korean President Kim Jong-un then went on to exchange personal insults regarding who was the biggest “madman.”
Who do you think is the bigger madman? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about the problems with North Korea, read these articles:
- North Korea Threatens US with Possible War
- North Korea Continues to Test Missiles
- North Korea Refuses to Give Up Nuclear Weapons
Photo: dailyexpress.co.uk