President Donald Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric against Kim Jong Un on Twitter Friday, saying the North Korean dictator is "obviously a madman."
The tweets followed an official statement from Kim in which he called Trump "a frightened dog." The statement was issued in response to Trump's United Nations address Tuesday when he threatened to destroy North Korea if Kim continues his "suicide mission." Kim has continued to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology despite international sanctions, and Trump said Friday he "will be tested like never before."
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911175246853664768
In a statement, believed to be the first by a North Korean leader made to the entire world, Kim had lambasted Trump for his speech, saying it was rude and irresponsible
"Far from making remarks of any persuasive power that can be viewed to be helpful to defusing tension, he made unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors," Kim said. "A frightened dog barks louder."
Kim had many more names for Trump, calling him everything from "mentally deranged" to a "political heretic."
"The mentally deranged behavior of the U.S. president openly expressing on the U.N. arena the unethical will to 'totally destroy' a sovereign state, beyond the boundary of threats of regime change or overturn of social system, makes even those with normal thinking faculty think about discretion and composure," Kim said.
"His remarks remind me of such words as 'political layman' and 'political heretic' which were in vogue in reference to Trump during his presidential election campaign," he added.
Kim also said Trump's words somehow constituted "blackmail against all countries."
"After taking office Trump has rendered the world restless through threats and blackmail against all countries in the world," Kim continued. "He is unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country, and he is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician."
Kim threatened countermeasures after what he called Trump's "declaration of war."
"Trump has denied the existence of and insulted me and my country in front of the eyes of the world and made the most ferocious declaration of a war in history," Kim said. He threatened to respond with the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history."
"I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying the D.P.R.K.," Kim said referring to the county's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation," Kim said. "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire."
Trump has led global efforts to address North Korea, signing an executive order to implement new economic sanctions Thursday. The order would penalize any company or person doing business with North Korea. When he announced the executive order, Trump praised China for taking action to prevent its banks from financing the North Korean regime.