North Korea on Wednesday replied to US President Donald Trump's remarks a day prior, when he explained why he referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "rocket man," with a warning that the friendly relationship between the two leaders was the only thing that stood in the way of "all-out armed conflict."
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2019) North Korea on Wednesday replied to US President Donald Trump's remarks a day prior, when he explained why he referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "rocket man," with a warning that the friendly relationship between the two leaders was the only thing that stood in the way of "all-out armed conflict."The state Korean Central news Agency (KCNA) published statements made by Pak Jong Chon, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army that underlined the volatility of the military tensions between the US and North Korea and that only close relations between Trump and Kim guaranteed the avoidance of an all-out conflict.
"I heard that the US president made undesirable remarks about the DPRK [North Korea] on Dec. 3 during the NATO summit in Britain. The Supreme Commander of our armed forces was also displeased to hear it. The DPRK and the US are still technically at war and the state of truce can turn into an all-out armed conflict any moment even by any accidental case," Pak said, as quoted by the KCNA.
Pak went on to highlight the US' military actions in the region and other statements by Trump about the use of armed forces with regard to Pyongyang.
When speaking on the first day of the NATO summit in London on Tuesday, Trump said that he had called Kim a "rocket man" because he "definitely loves sending rockets up." This hearkens back to statements made in 2017 by the president at the height of tensions between the two nations.
Trump has since refrained from the term, meeting Kim on three occasions in an attempt to make progress on North Korea's denuclearization multiple times, albeit fruitlessly.
In late November, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, which flew about 380 kilometers (236 miles) at an altitude of 97 kilometers. In early October, the country announced the successful launch of its submarine-launched ballistic missile, Pukguksong-3, which was fired off the coast of Wonsan Bay.
