South Korea’s SEOULIn the isolated state’s first outspoken criticism of the Trump administration, North Korea chastised Secretary of State Marco Rubioon Monday for labeling it a rogue state and claimed that his crude and absurd comments will not serve American interests.
Even though President Donald Trump has stated that he would prefer to continue face-to-face discussions with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the remarks from nuclear-armed North Korea are the most recent evidence that it is not amenable to negotiations over its U.N.-sanctioned weapons programs.
Referring to the nation’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement carried by state media that the hostile words and actions of the person in charge of U.S. foreign policy served as an occasion to confirm once again the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK, which remains unchanged.
The statement went on to say that Rubio’s crude and absurd comments will never serve to advance American interests as he desires and only serve to highlight the new administration’s misperception of the DPRK.
According to the North Korean statement, Rubio made the rogue state remark in a media interview, but it did not say which one. However, it was probably a reference to Rubio’s Thursday interview with Megyn Kelly of SiriusXM, in which he characterized Iran and North Korea as rogue governments.
Trump aroused eyebrows last month when he called North Korea a nuclear power, a word that U.S. officials have long avoided using since it could imply acknowledgment of North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, even if it is not uncommon for them to use such language when discussing the country.
Trump has talked excitedly about his relationship with Kim, calling him a clever guy and stating that he plans to get in touch with him once again. Trump met with Kim three times during his first term.
Although North Korea has not reacted to Trump’s comments, Kim’s aggressive rhetoric and weapons testing are still going strong.
According to state media, Kim visited a nuclear material production plant last week and urged the nation to improve its nuclear combat capabilities.
Additionally, North Korea has demonstrated three weapons so far this year: strategic cruise missiles, a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile, and several short-range ballistic missiles.