North Korea fired a rocket of criticism at President Donald Trump on Monday, saying he is a “heedless and erratic old man.”
The rogue state was responding to a tweet from Trump that warned Kim Jong Un could be putting his relationship with the president in jeopardy if he continues to indulge in provocative stunts that could affect the 2020 presidential election, the Associated Press reported.
US President Donald Trump (R) gestures as he meets with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The remarks came from North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Yong Chol, who suggested Trump was only trying to save face as the North Korean dictator’s deadline to resume nuclear negotiations approaches at the end of the year. (RELATED: Trump And Kim Jong Un Agree That Biden Is ‘Low IQ,’ Says Sarah Sanders)
On Sunday, Trump tweeted: “Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way … He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States … ”
Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore. He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere…. https://t.co/THfOjfB2uE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2019
Trump added that North Korea “has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearize as promised … the entire world is unified on this issue!”
….with the U.S. Presidential Election in November. North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearize as promised. NATO, China, Russia, Japan, and the entire world is unified on this issue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2019
Trump’s reference to North Korea having to “denuclearize as promised” is apparently a reminder that when he and Kim first met in June 2018, Kim promised to make the Korean Peninsula a nuclear-free zone.
Kim Yong Chol’s response insulted Trump’s age and intelligence and said he is “bereft of patience.”
“As (Trump) is such a heedless and erratic old man, the time when we cannot but call him a ‘dotard’ again may come,” Kim Yong Chol said.
“Trump has too many things that he does not know about (North Korea).” Yong Chol said. “We have nothing more to lose. Though the U.S. may take away anything more from us, it can never remove the strong sense of self-respect, might and resentment against the U.S. from us.”
Kim Yong Chol has been to Washington twice in his efforts to organize summits between the two leaders. During their second conference over two days last February in Hanoi, Vietnam, negotiations seemed to be unfolding well until they reached an impasse over North Korean demands that the United States drop all economic sanctions in return for a minor nuclear slowdown from North Korea. (RELATED: Here’s Why Trump’s Negotiations With Kim Jong Un Fell Apart)
A third meeting occurred at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. Trump became the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korean territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in meet at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korea remains a totalitarian communist state that suppresses dissent, endures chronic food shortages and has even banned Christmas, opting instead to celebrate the birth of Jong Un’s grandmother who is considered a communist icon.