“The whole world should clearly remember it was the U.S. who first declared war on our country,” said Ri. “Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country.”
Ri’s comments were part of a steadily escalating rhetorical volley that began with President Trump’s address to the U.N. General Assembly, in which he memorably sneered at North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as “Rocket Man” and said he was on a “suicide mission for himself and his regime.”
“The U.S. has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump said last Tuesday at the United Nations.
On Saturday, U.S. bombers flew close to the North Korean coast in a show of force that took them further north than any American fighter or bomber has flown during the 21st century, according to the Pentagon.
North Korea has long complained about U.S. bomber flights near the Korean peninsula; it’s one of the reasons they occasionally threaten to attack Guam, where American B-1B bombers are based. The North Koreans have demanded an end to joint U.S.-South Korean military drills as a precondition for any further negotiations about their nuclear missile program, which they refuse to halt in any event. READ MORE
