North Korea Claims US President Trump Has Declared War
U.S. President Donald Trump declared war on North Korea when he tweeted that North Korea "won't be around much longer," North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Monday.
On Sept. 25, Minister Ri told a group of reporters in New York that they would "make all self-defensive counter measures" possible to defend their country, even if that means shooting down the United States forces' bombers outside of North Korea's airspace
"Last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer and declared a war on our country," an official translation of Ri's remarks to the media noted.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
He added: "Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive counter measures, 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."
In response to Ri's statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders denied that the U.S. had declared war on North Korea and added that Ri's suggestion was "absurd." She also said that it would be inappropriate to hit another country's aircraft in international waters.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Katina Adams had previously mentioned in an interview with CNN that what the U.S. was aiming for was a "peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
However, Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said the U.S. military would do everything possible to protect the U.S. and its allies should North Korea continue its "provocative actions."
Meanwhile, South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said in a speech held in Washington, Tuesday morning, that it was "very likely" that North Korea would continue with "further provocations." He also stressed that it was important for both Korea and the U.S. to take care of the situation as early as now to keep further tensions and military clashes from emerging.
