NORTH KOREA: Govt accuses US of declaring war

North Korea’s foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country. Ri Yong-ho told reporters in New York that North Korea reserved the right to shoot down US bombers. This applied even when they were not in North Korean airspace, the minister added. This is not the first time that […]

North Korea’s foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country. Ri Yong-ho told reporters in New York that North Korea reserved the right to shoot down US bombers.

This applied even when they were not in North Korean airspace, the minister added.

This is not the first time that North Korea has used the phrase “a declaration of war” in relation to the United States.

But Mr Ri’s comments are a response to the US president’s tweet that Mr Ri and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would not “be around much longer” if they continued their rhetoric. The world “should clearly remember” it was the US that first declared war, Mr Ri said, in a rare statement to Western media as he left New York. 

The foreign minister had addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday.

In a fiery speech he described Mr Trump as a “mentally deranged person full of megalomania” on a “suicide mission”.